Platinum Witch
by grey0716
Summary: Meet Dawn. Pretty cold and sardonic, but still a nice girl. Her only friends are a hyperactive idiot and a figment of her imagination, but that's alright. And she ends up getting a Pokemon and going on a journey throughout a region that either hates her, wants to stop her, or flat out wants her dead because of what she's capable of. Sounds about right for a witch like her, right?
1. They Call her a Witch

**Platinum Witch**

 **Chapter 1: They Call her a Witch**

* * *

 **AN:** And here we go again. Hey there everybody! The name's grey0716, and because I said I would, I present you with Platinum Witch! This story will be based on Pokemon Platinum, with several changes in the plot, so it won't just be cookie cutter from the game. And now for the obligatory disclaimer:

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Pokémon or any of its existing/canon characters. This disclaimer is in effect for the entirety of the story so I don't have to repeat it over and over and over again in each chapter.**

And for reference, "-words-" is when a Pokemon speaks. No one will understand what they're saying unless they have something special that lets them understand their speech.

Alright with that out of the way, let's get started!

* * *

" _...Barry's not showing up today...has he finally started to not like me too? Like everyone else? I-I don't want that...He's my only friend..."_

' _Oh, so I'm not your friend?'_

" _Th-That's not what I meant! Of course you're my friend too! I just meant–!"_

' _Haha, don't worry. I know you didn't mean it like that. It's alright. But don't worry. He'll show up.'_

" _What's that? Don't worry? He'll show up? But..."_

' _Perhaps he's busy with something. He's never blown you off before.'_

" _...I guess...yeah...I'll wait! He could be busy with something. I heard Uncle Palmer's very busy lately."_

' _That's the spirit.'_

" _Thanks for cheering me up! You always know what to say!"_

' _What are friends for?'_

" _Speaking of...you never told me your name. Have you finally remembered it?"_

' _...Hm...Not quite. I'm sorry. Perhaps give me more time.'_

" _It's okay! You already do so much for me!"_

' _Thank you. Just remember. I'll always be there for you. You always have a part of me within you.'_

" _So long as you have a piece of me with you, I'll always protect you."_

* * *

" _...Despite the exploration team's best efforts, however, the rare oddly Pokémon eluded detection,"_ the television said. _"The rumored red gyarados failed to appear, even fleetingly to the crestfallen team. That concludes our special report "search of the red gyarados". Brought to you by Jubilife TV on the nationwide net! See you next week, same time, same channel!"_

And with that, the documentary ended, with a boy with blonde hair and orange eyes wearing a jacket with orange and white stripes staring at the network with extreme intent. Next to him was a girl with navy-blue colored hair and sharp platinum eyes wearing a black mini dress with a pink skirt, who looked bored out of her mind.

"Yoooo! We need to go find the red gyarados, Dawn!" the boy yelled ecstatically. "I bet'cha it's definitely in Lake Verity!"

"Oh? And what makes you say that?" Dawn decided to humor him.

"They said that it was in a lake," the boy replied. "Lake Verity's a lake, so it must be in there!"

"And this is why you're an idiot, Barry," Dawn chided.

"What?! Why?!" Barry yelled.

"First of all, there's no such thing as a red gyarados in Lake Verity," Dawn said. "Second of all your logic is akin to saying that since a bird can fly, that means since a piplup is a bird, it can fly, which it cant. Third, if it's a red gyarados, then that must mean that it's a shiny variant, which is extremely rare to find in the wild, so there's little chance that we'll actually find it, assuming it's actually in Lake Verity. Fourth, even if there was one in Lake Verity and we somehow find it, we don't have any Pokémon to defend ourselves. And finally, you're an idiot. Simple as that."

"Yeah you got a point..." Barry muttered. "Oh I got it!"

"Oh great, what did your feeble mind come up with now?" Dawn asked.

"You heard of Professor Rowan, right?" Barry asked, completely ignoring Dawn's insult.

"Yeah, he's the famous Pokémon professor who lives in the next town," Dawn answered.

"He must have lots and lots of Pokémon," Barry said. "So if we ask him, then he must give us Pokémon that we can use to go find that red gyarados! Am I a genius or what?"

"...I'm done here," Dawn declared as she got up.

"Wha–HEY!" Barry yelled. "What was wrong with my plan?!"

"I highly doubt that a renowned professor would just hand over Pokémon to two random kids," Dawn said. "Even more so if the purpose was to go on something suicidal as hunting down a gyarados with said Pokémon."

"But we're fourteen!" Barry argued.

"Not the point," Dawn drawled, rolling her eyes as she grabbed a red jacket and wore it over her dress, where she grabbed a white scarf and white beanie and wore it as well, where she headed downstairs.

"Wha–Hey! Wait up!" Barry yelled as he chased her from behind.

* * *

Dawn headed downstairs into the living room, where a woman with round blue hair was watching TV with a large brown bipedal creature with a thick tail next to her, and a gray, slender feline Pokémon sitting on the couch.

"Oh, Dawn, you going out?" the woman asked.

"Yeah," Dawn said as she wrapped her scarf around her. "Barry's acting like an idiot again and I need some fresh air."

"Don't go out too far," her mom said.

"Alright!" Dawn said as she left the house. "Later Mom! Jumpy! Glammy!"

"Damn it Dawn wait up!" Barry yelled as he rushed down the stairs, until he noticed Dawn's mom. "Oh, hey there Mrs. Berlitz."

"Up to your usual antics again, Barry?" Mrs. Berlitz asked.

"I don't see a problem," Barry said. "Anyways did Dawn leave?"

"Yep," Johanna said. "Keep an eye on her, will you?"

"Will do, ma'am!" Barry said. "I am her best friend after all."

With that, Barry left the house and chased after his friend, leaving Johanna by herself with her kangaskhan and glameow.

"At least she still has Barry, right Jumpy?" Johanna asked her partner.

Jumpy nodded in response. Glammy simply yawned as she went back to sleep.

* * *

A cold breeze swept the small town of Twinleaf. Dawn felt a chill run through her as she shuddered a bit, before regaining her composure.

"Now then, what to do..." Dawn muttered.

As Dawn was about to make her move, Barry shot out from the door and bumped into her.

"GAH!?"

"Kya!"

The two were knocked down, where Barry got back up, rubbing his head.

"Ow..." Barry muttered. "Oh crap–Dawn! You okay?!"

Dawn got back up, muttering something under her breath.

"This is why I keep telling you to calm down," Dawn grumbled.

"Sorry..." Barry muttered. "Anyways, so how's about we go meet Professor Rowan?"

Dawn wanted to protest against the idea. Honestly it was so ludicrous that her friend would think of something this asinine. But then again it is Barry we're talking about. And she was bored anyways. Nothing else happens in this small, infernal town.

...It would also give her an excuse to leave this place and never come back.

"...Fine, I'll play along," Dawn muttered.

"Alright!" Barry exclaimed. "First, let's go to my house. I need to pick up a few things."

Without warning, the blonde made a beeline to his house, which was not too far from her own house. Dawn sighed as she went after him in her own pace. As she made her way, she could hear the hushed murmurs of the people around her.

"It's her."

"Ugh, the witch's out again?"

"Why does she still live here? She's why this town is so barren."

"I'm amazed that Barry still hangs out with a witch like her, poor boy."

Dawn paid no attention to the hushed gossip, completely ignoring them with a blank expression.

She had gotten used to it anyways. She couldn't care any less at this point.

Eventually, she had reached Barry's house, where she knocked on the door. A middle-aged woman with brown hair answered the door.

"Yes?" the woman asked.

"Hey, Mrs. Pearl," Dawn greeted.

"Oh my, Dawn!" the woman said happily. "It's good to see you! Let me guess, Barry?"

"Yep," Dawn muttered.

"Oh that boy, always rushing off to things," Mrs. Pearl said. "Just like his father I suppose...you're in luck though, he should still be in his room."

Mrs. Pearl let Dawn in, where the girl obliged. The girl headed up the stairs and into Barry's room, where the boy in question was shoving a notebook into his bag.

"Let's see...I better take my journal with me," Barry said, until he noticed Dawn. "Gah! Dawn! Don't you know when to knock!?"

"Like you're one to talk," Dawn shot back.

"Touché," Barry replied. "Anyways, I'm gonna head out to Route 201. You better be there too! If you're late–!"

"Yeah, yeah, it's a 10 million pd fine," Dawn said nonchalantly, having heard her friend's catchphrase several times to the point of memorizing it. "Let's just go."

"R-Right," Barry muttered, embarrassed that he was that predictable.

The two headed down the stairs and exited Barry's house; the exit of the town was to the east, not too far from the house.

"Oh man I wonder what kind of Pokémon we'll get from Professor Rowan," Barry said, trying very hard to contain his excitement.

"There's no guarantee that we'll even get anything from him," Dawn said. "Professor Rowan has no obligation to give two random kids Pokémon anyways."

"I mean we can still try at least," Barry insisted.

"Fine," Dawn groaned.

"C'mon, let's go!" Barry smirked as he grabbed Dawn's arm and dragged her away into the route north of Twinleaf Town, seemingly ignoring the glares and fearful gazes they were receiving from the other townsfolk.

* * *

Route 201. The starting route for the Sinnoh Region (if you happen to live in the dead end town of Twinleaf); a small path through a lush, green wooded area. It had densely grown trees that gave off a thick, yet natural aroma.

Standing in front of a field of tall grass, Barry and Dawn were simply staring at the road ahead. The grass that was in their way housed many wild Pokémon which could attack them. This would be dangerous, since they had no Pokémon of their own to defend themselves should they be attacked.

"...So...?" Dawn asked. "How do you plan to get through this?"

"Yeah..." Barry said. "Any ideas?"

"Wha–?! You mean you didn't think of anything?!" Dawn yelled incredulously.

"Ahaha...yeah I was too busy thinking of what Pokémon I would get from Professor Rowan," Barry laughed nervously.

Dawn palmed her face as she glared at her idiotic friend. Leave it to him to not think his hair-brained plans through.

"Barry...what's wrong with you...?" Dawn asked. "Y'know, besides the obvious reasons?"

"You always know where it stings..." Barry muttered, before inspiration came into his head. "I got it!"

"Oh? Enlighten me," Dawn said.

"Sure it's idiotic and potentially life-threatening to run into the grass without any Pokémon to defend ourselves," Barry said. "So, what you do is, you scoot over to the next patch of grass before any wild Pokémon can appear! If we just keep dashing, we can get to Sandgem Town without running into wild Pokémon!"

"I'll arrange your funeral," Dawn said as she turned around to head back to Twinleaf, only to be stopped as Barry jumped at her, clinging onto her leg.

"NO DON'T LEAVE ME! I GET LONELY EASILY!" Barry pleaded.

"Let go, Barry," Dawn grumbled, seemingly unfazed that he was clinging onto her leg.

"C'mon! What was wrong with my idea?!" Barry demanded.

"You're basically telling us to sprint through the grass, gambling on the probability that no wild Pokémon will attack us," Dawn said. "What's _not_ wrong with that? And frankly I don't like gambling on stupid ideas that could potentially get me killed."

"It's not _that_ bad!" Barry whined. "C'mon, pleaaaaaaase!"

"Barry, there's nothing you can do that'll make me–," Dawn said as she looked down to the boy, only to freeze mid-sentence with a horrified, red, expression.

"Huh?" Barry asked, not realizing that he was looking up her skirt, until noticing a specific piece of clothing. "...The pachirisus are pink this time?"

Which earned the blonde idiot a kick to the face so hard, that it sent him flying over the ledge next to them and into a tree face-first.

"Ow..." Barry groaned as he slid off the tree.

"Forget what you saw, and I'll go with your stupid idea," Dawn threatened.

"YAAAY!" Barry exclaimed, making a full recovery despite having been kicked in the face.

Dawn sighed as Barry jumped over the ledge. Even if he was an idiot, she couldn't bring herself to loathe the boy and his overly positive attitude.

"OK! Stick with me Dawn!" Barry exclaimed as they took a few steps back. "If anything does try to attack you, I'll definitely protect you!"

"So that means I can use you as a human shield? Got it," Dawn said as she took a few steps back.

"On your marks," Barry said. "Get set...GO–!"

"HOLD IT!"

The two were about to make a dash for it, but a sudden angry cry stopped them in their tracks, causing them to fall flat.

"What the...?" Dawn groaned as she got up.

The two turned around to see an elderly man with short, white hair and a mustache, with sharp eyes and wearing a blue vest and white shirt. The man glared daggers at the two as he approached them.

"...Professor Rowan...?" Barry asked, recognizing the man.

"You two don't seem to have any Pokémon between the two of you," the man, Professor Rowan, said, examining the two. "Then what is the meaning of going through the tall grass!?"

"His idea," Dawn immediately said, pointing to Barry.

"Hey!" Barry yelled. "Speaking of, what are you doing here, Professor Rowan? We thought you'd be at your lab at Sandgem, so we could get Pokémon from you."

The professor walked away from the two, seemingly ignoring the boy while he contemplated on his own.

"...They tried to go into the tall grass because they wanted Pokémon..." Rowan muttered to himself. "Hmm...What to do...? Their world would surely change if they were to meet Pokémon...Is it right for me to put them on that path...?"

"Why is he muttering to himself?" Barry asked Dawn.

"How should I know?" Dawn shrugged. "Maybe he's thinking that we're two crazy idiots who almost got ourselves killed."

Seemingly done with his contemplation, Rowan walked back to the two kids.

"What you two attempted to do was foolish beyond belief," Rowan scolded them.

"Told you so," Dawn said on the side.

"Not thinking of the risks of encountering a wild Pokémon without having your own for protection and recklessly attempting to trek to Sandgem..." Rowan muttered. "That's enough to warrant me to NOT give you two Pokémon."

"Way to go, genius," Dawn chided to Barry, who was paling and sweating bullets.

"...However," Rowan continued. "The fact that you young children risked your lives in order to receive your first Pokémon...I commend you for your commitment."

Dawn looked somewhat surprised, while Barry sighed in relief.

"Tell me, you two truly love Pokémon, do you not?" Rowan asked.

"Of course!" Barry exclaimed. "That's why I was stupid enough to go through the wild and drag my friend along with me!"

"Well he's honest," Dawn shrugged. "And yes, I do love Pokémon. They're the few things that _don't_ aggravate me."

Rowan studied the two of them with a critical look.

The blonde was somewhat idiotic, but he was sincere and honest. He truly did love Pokémon. Although he paled at the mayhem the boy could cause given the opportunity, he would truly care for Pokémon should he be given the task to train them.

The girl, however...her words were worth contemplating about. How she had worded it...it's almost like she has some kind of past resentment for many things, and Pokémon are one of the few exceptions.

"It worries me what people like you two would do with Pokémon," Rowan muttered.

"What?!" Barry yelled. "You can ask a hundred times! The answer will never change! We'll both answer a hundred times, we love Pokémon!"

"While he's moronic as you can probably tell," Dawn said. "I can vouch for him; he's not lying. No matter what, our feelings will not change."

Rowan didn't look too impressed, eyebrows raised in a skeptical manner.

"Uh...well..." Barry murmured, beginning to falter at the man's glare. "I, uh...Well, then forget about me, but at the very least give a Pokémon to Dawn here!"

"What?" Dawn asked Barry, genuinely shocked that he would give up his chance for her.

"I mean, it was me who tried to go into the tall grass and all...and she simply listened to me as an obligation of being my only friend," Barry admitted. "And if anything, she needs a Pokémon much more than I do."

Rowan looked impressed at Barry, before letting out a chuckle.

"How big of you..." Rowan muttered. "Very well, then! I will entrust you two with Pokémon!"

"REALLY?!" Barry gasped.

"I apologize for putting you through that exercise," Rowan said. "However! You must promise me that you will never recklessly endanger yourselves again."

"We promise!" Barry exclaimed excitedly, while Dawn simply nodded.

"Now, then... Hm? Now, where...?" Rowan muttered, looking around.

"Professor!"

They all looked behind Rowan to see a boy with short, slate-grey hair and blue eyes, wearing a dark red full-sleeved shirt with a dark blue and black jacket over it, with a white scarf wrapped around his neck and denim black pants with dark gray and white running shoes and a dark red beret, running up to them. In his hand, he was carrying a briefcase.

"Lucas...?" Rowan asked as the boy caught up to them.

"Professor Rowan...you left your briefcase at the lake," the boy, Lucas, panted.

"Ah! There it is!" Rowan exclaimed. "Nice work, Lucas."

"Who's the French dude?" Barry whispered to Dawn.

"How should I know?" Dawn whispered back.

"Allow me to introduce you to my assistant," Rowan said. "Lucas Diamond."

"Hello," Lucas bowed to the two. "Um...Professor...what's going on here?"

"You see, I was about to entrust the remaining two Pokémon to these two," Rowan explained.

"I'm sorry, what?!" Lucas gasped. "Those Pokémon are REALLY hard to replace! Are you sure about just giving them away like that?"

"Hmph! There comes a time when people should meet Pokémon," Rowan rebutted. "There's a world they should explore. For them, today is that time. Right here."

"If you say so..." Lucas muttered skeptically.

Reluctantly, Lucas opened the briefcase, revealing two pokéballs. One contained a small, light green, quadruped turtle-like Pokémon. The other contained a small, orange and yellow chimpanzee-like Pokémon.

"Go on! Choose whichever one you want!" Rowan offered.

"All right!" Barry exclaimed as he was about to rush at the briefcase, but was stopped by Dawn.

"Ah, ah, ah," Dawn said. "Don't you know the term 'ladies first'? You dragged me into this, so you're going to at least oblige with that."

Barry groaned slightly, but complied nonetheless as she went over to the briefcase, picked up both pokéballs and carefully examined both Pokémon. They were both staring curiously at her through the semi-transparent capsules they were in. While the chimpanzee looked fairly cute, and was obviously a Fire-type, judging from its orange coloring and the fact that professors tend to give out starter Pokémon in sets according to the old-fashioned Grass-Fire-Water cycle core, and the turtle was definitely a Grass-type. Strangely, the Water-type, probably a piplup, wasn't present with the two. Someone must have taken it then. Probably that boring looking boy behind Rowan. What was his name again? Lucas? Whatever, it wasn't important at the moment.

While picking the chimpanzee would definitely give her a great advantage over Barry, the turtle was cute in its own right. It was calm. It waited patiently for Dawn to make her decision, unlike the chimpanzee, which looked tense and ready to burst out at any minute.

The turtle would understand her, surely.

Dawn tossed the pokéball with the chimpanzee to Barry without even looking, where the boy easily caught the ball in his hand.

"Huh? You're choosing Turtwig?" Barry asked. He was surprised Dawn wouldn't choose Chimchar and get the advantage over him type-wise.

"Do you have a problem?" Dawn shrugged as she released the turtle from its pokéball.

The turtle glanced up to Dawn, as the girl kneeled down to his level.

"I'm your new trainer now," Dawn said softly. "The name's Dawn."

The turtle stared at Dawn, before nodding in response, seemingly acknowledging her.

"Alright then," Barry shrugged, before grinning. "Alright! Let's go!"

Barry released the chimpanzee, as it landed in front of him.

"Hiya!" Barry grinned. "I'm Barry! You and I are gonna be the best in the world!"

The chimp looked up to Barry, before flashing an equally happy grin.

"So you chose Turtwig, while giving your friend Chimchar," Rowan mused aloud. "Interesting. Usually in a position like this, and especially with only two options, the first pick would go for the one that would give themselves the best advantage."

"I liked the turtle better," Dawn shrugged. "Besides, the chimpanzee certainly fits Barry's personality better."

"I certainly agree with you on that part," Rowan commented.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Barry yelled.

"Regardless," Rowan said, ignoring the blonde. "Listen well you two! The Pokémon you have been entrusted with are unfamiliar with the world. In that regard, they're much like you, asides from the obvious personality similarities that Miss Dawn here pointed out already. As fellow newcomers to the world, I hope you'll all do well together."

"You can count on it, Professor!" Barry grinned, while Dawn merely nodded in response.

"If you have any trouble, come see me at my lab in Sandgem Town," Rowan offered. "And now, we'll be on our way."

Rowan grabbed his suitcase and made his way to Sandgem Town, with Lucas following dutifully from behind, giving the two new trainers a goodbye before leaving. Now left with their new Pokémon, Barry glanced at Chimchar, before glancing at Turtwig, before finally glancing towards Dawn while sporting the stupidest grin Dawn could ever imagine.

"Oh you know what's gonna happen now," Barry smirked.

Dawn raised a brow at the blonde. They both got their first Pokémon. Knowing the hyperactive boy, there was only one logical conclusion to this. A conclusion she didn't particularly like, but nonetheless was predictable enough to anticipate.

"Do we have to?" Dawn groaned.

"Oh c'mon, Dawn! Don't be that way!" Barry insisted. "We both got our very first Pokémon! We NEED to do this! We NEED TO BATTLE!"

"And why do we need to battle?"

"Because it'll be FREAKING AWESOME!"

Dawn groaned under her breath, rolling her eyes once more. Of course that would be his reply. The boy was just given a brand new Pokémon. It would've been strange if he _didn't_ want to test it out in a battle. Dawn stared at Barry, noting how he was eagerly waiting for her answer; presumably waiting for her to comply. The puppy dog eyes only further supported this.

Dawn then examined the two Pokémon. Chimchar seemed to quickly share Barry's sentiments, equally awaiting for the girl to cooperate and make Turtwig fight him. Turtwig, on the other hand, glanced up to Dawn, patiently awaiting for her orders.

"Do you want to fight?" Dawn asked Turtwig.

Turtwig stared at Dawn for a few seconds, before nodding in response.

"Alright then," Dawn said, complying with Turtwig. "Turtwig wants to fight anyways."

Barry's grin grew wider as he quickly backed off to give the two Pokémon enough room to fight.

"I knew you'd see my way!" Barry exclaimed happily as Chimchar jumped to his side of the field. "I've always wanted to say this...and now, it's time..."

Unable to contain his excitement any further, Barry pointed his finger at Dawn determinedly; Chimchar mimicking the same gesture at Turtwig.

"Dawn! I challenge you to a battle!"

* * *

"Chimchar, use Scratch!" Barry yelled.

"Withdraw," Dawn commanded.

Chimchar hastily lunged at Turtwig as the turtle withdrew into his shell, leaving Chimchar to scratch at the shell in vain as Turtwig raised his defense.

"Tackle!"

Turtwig's head shot out of the shell, smashing into Chimchar and sending him back to Barry.

"Ugh...not bad," Barry muttered as Chimchar got back up. "But we won't go down that easily! Chimchar, Scratch once more!"

"Withdraw."

Chimchar lunged at Turtwig again, where Turtwig withdrew into his shell once again, repeating the process that just happened a literal minute ago. Which led to Turtwig smashing his head into Chimchar once again.

"You want to try something else?" Dawn asked as Turtwig lightly stomped his feet. "I don't think your plan's working."

"Alright we will!" Barry yelled as Chimchar got back up once more. "Chimchar, use Ember!"

The boy, who expected a stream of embers being launched from Chimchar at Turtwig, was only met with a confused expression from said chimpanzee in question.

"Wait, what's wrong?" Barry asked, confused. "C'mon, use Ember!'

"I guess Chimchar doesn't know Ember yet," Dawn shrugged.

"...Are you serious?" Barry asked, somewhat disbelieving while Chimchar merely shrugged his shoulders in his defense. "It's a Fire-type."

"I mean it's still young," Dawn tried to reason.

"Breathing fire should be an innate ability."

"Hey, Turtwig can't probably use Absorb yet either."

"Its butt is LITERALLY on fire!"

"Well what do you want me to do about it?"

Barry was still in disbelief that Chimchar couldn't use Ember despite clearly being a Fire-type. The boy then took a good look at the chimpanzee's burning butt, and inspiration struck him.

"Well we still have some kind of fire!" Barry yelled. "Chimchar! Smash you butt onto Turtwig!"

"...You can't be serious."

Somewhat confused, but complying nonetheless, Chimchar charged at Turtwig before slamming his behind onto the Grass-type. Chimchar's butt smashed into Turtwig's face, causing the turtle to freak out, feeling the burn of Chimchar's burning butt, while trying to get it out of his face.

"Yeah that's it! Keep smashing your butt!" Barry yelled out.

Chimchar clung onto Turtwig's head and kept his behind in Turtwig's head. Turtwig cried out bloody murder as Chimchar's fire kept singeing his face.

"This seriously can't be happening," Dawn said incredulously, staring at the two Pokémon incredulously. "Turtwig, if you can hear me, run straight to your left."

Turtwig, somehow able to hear Dawn, did as he was told and charged straight to where he could determine as left and charged straight into it. Turtwig ended up running into a tree and smashed Chimchar, squishing him between Turtwig's head and the tree, and forcing him to lose his grip and fell off.

"Chimchar!" Barry cried.

"Tackle!" Dawn yelled.

As Chimchar fell off the tree, Turtwig tackled into Chimchar once more into the tree, forcing all the air out of the poor Fire-type. Chimchar slid off the tree once again, this time knocked out and unable to fight anymore.

* * *

"Aw man! We ended up losing!" Barry yelled as he rushed over to pick up Chimchar.

"I'll give you points for creativity at least," Dawn said as she went over to pick up Turtwig. "Class...not so much."

"But still, that was AWESOME!" Barry exclaimed. "You were pretty good Dawn even though this was your first time handling a Pokémon. You'll be an awesome trainer for sure!"

"Simplicity doesn't really say much, but thanks regardless," Dawn replied, before turning to Turtwig. "You did well, Turtwig. Nice job."

Turtwig tried to rub his face from the burn marks left by Chimchar's rump, before nodding to Dawn.

"Whew! Well I'm beat from that battle," Barry said. "I need some rest, and so does Chimchar."

"Right, let's go back," Dawn said.

"That's the plan!" Barry grinned as he headed back to Twinleaf. "See ya, Dawn!"

With that, the hasty blonde rushed back to his hometown, leaving Dawn to her turtwig.

"Well, let's go home," Dawn said. "Mom should be able to patch you up."

Turtwig nodded as Dawn made her way back home. Turtwig glanced up to Dawn curiously. She was calm, cool and collected from her first impression she gave off. Her friend was overly excited, energetic, and enthusiastic. The two contrasted each other in personalities, yet they seem to enjoy each other's company. Even if Dawn didn't act like it. Well that's what Turtwig could make out of it. Nonetheless, she was a nice trainer, and Turtwig would enjoy being by her side, acting as her partner.

He would certainly enjoy getting back at that stupid chimchar for shoving his ass into his face.

"You're an awfully quiet one, aren't you?" Dawn inquired to Turtwig.

"-Well, it's not like there's much to talk about,-" Turtwig mumbled in his native tongue.

"Hm, I guess you're right," Dawn replied offhandedly. "And here we are."

Turtwig was presented with a large house, like none that he had ever seen before.

"This is my home," Dawn announced. "Well, we'll be leaving this place soon, so I guess make yourself comfortable for now, ha ha..."

Dawn opened the door and entered her house with Turtwig in her arms, where her mother was preparing dinner alongside her kangaskhan, while Glammy was the first to greet her.

"I'm home!" Dawn announced as Glammy curled up around her leg affectionately.

"Oh, welcome home!" Johanna exclaimed as she set down her knife and went over to her daughter, before noticing Turtwig. "Oh, what do we have here?"

"Yeah, I ended up getting a Pokémon from Professor Rowan," Dawn mumbled.

"Why that's wonderful!" Johanna said with glee. "You must've went through a hassle to get to Sandgem to see Rowan."

"Yeah, about that..." Dawn muttered.

The blunette explained the story of how she was dragged to Route 201 by Barry and his 'perfect' plan to get to Sandgem, only to be stopped by Rowan, who decided to give her and Barry a Pokémon, while finishing with how she fought and won against Barry.

"Wow, that's impressive," Johanna complimented as she finished healing up Turtwig. "I mean even if Barry is somewhat...simple, he's still Palmer's son after all."

"Well he was creative," Dawn giggled.

"Hm, you really are your father's daughter," Johanna giggled as well.

"I guess," Dawn replied indifferently, her tone suddenly becoming cold.

"But still, you and Barry were lucky to have ran into Professor Rowan there," Johanna commented, seemingly ignoring Dawn's sudden tone change. "Imagine if you didn't... I wouldn't like to think what the wild Pokémon might have done to you two."

Well it wasn't like Dawn would've been _completely_ helpless in such a scenario, but the girl decided against saying anything, instead letting her mother worry.

"Dawn, you should go to Sandgem and thank Professor Rowan properly for giving you a Pokémon," Johanna advised. "Now that you have this little guy to defend you, I'm sure you'll be fine traversing Route 201."

"Yeah," Dawn said.

"Oh! I know!" Johanna suddenly exclaimed, before rushing off to the closet and rummaging through it, before taking out a pair of boots similar to the ones Dawn were wearing. "Wear these!"

Dawn tilted her head in slight confusion, before trading her old boots for the new ones.

"What, new boots?" Dawn asked.

"The Running Shoes: Boot Edition," Johanna explained. "They were supposed to be your birthday present, but I figured you would need it now. They're much more suitable for running around the region than those old boots."

"I happened to like those old boots, thank you very much," Dawn muttered jokingly. "Still, thanks."

"No problem," Johanna smiled. "Make sure you bring Barry with you!"

"Will do," Dawn said as she got ready to leave once more.

Turtwig got out of Johanna's grasp and waddled towards Dawn, who picked him up in her arms once more, where the girl exited her house once more.

"Oh they're growing up so fast," Johanna mused.

* * *

"Déjà vu," Dawn muttered as she headed to Barry's place once more, this time with Turtwig in tow, noticing the people who once again confided to their hushed gossip.

"The witch has a Pokémon now?"

"Poor thing...having her as its trainer."

"Is she going to use it to spread her evil as well?"

"Well if it means she gets out of the town sooner, then good."

Turtwig couldn't help but overhear the hushed conversations between the people around them, all seemingly insulting Dawn. That's strange. Why would they not like her? Turtwig glared at the people around them, offended that they would offend Dawn as such. The turtle looked back up to see if Dawn was hearing what he was hearing as well. Her expression remained neutral. Turtwig couldn't tell if she had heard them or not, or if she did hear them but was keeping up a neutral expression.

"It's only a matter of time before she kills Barry too, if they're involving Pokémon in this too."

For once, Dawn's expression cracked, a slight twitch in her eye eminent.

"You know, if you have something to say, you should say it to my face instead of hiding behind others and gossiping about it," Dawn hissed, making herself known and catching the gossiping people in shock. "And if you vermin really think I would harm one of the few people that don't treat me like a pariah, then truly you're either ignorant, or have less intellect than rhyhorns. If you want me to kill someone so badly, however..."

Dawn's platinum-colored eyes gleamed rather dangerously; a rather malevolent smile plastering onto her face.

"Then I'll be happy to oblige to accept volunteers," Dawn practically dared them.

The people suddenly froze up, before running off. Dawn huffed indignantly, before heading back to her way to Barry's place. Turtwig looked surprised at Dawn. He didn't expect her to actually threaten to kill them like that. Dawn seemed to notice Turtwig staring at her with a rather surprised look.

"Don't worry, I was bluffing," Dawn smiled. "I wouldn't waste my time on people who can only talk and do nothing in return."

That reassured Turtwig somewhat, but he couldn't help but shudder slightly upon remembering how Dawn maliciously threatened them. It was as if she was another person; there was a chilling aura present within her. Frankly, it was frightening. It was as if there was something within her, giving her that kind of terror.

At the very least she was a nice person.

"DAAAAAAAAAWWN!"

Dawn and Turtwig looked up to see Barry and Chimchar at the gate to Route 201, happily waiting for them. Dawn's mood seemed to perk up, before turning back into her neutral expression as she walked up to Barry. She set Turtwig down so that the turtle could interact with Chimchar.

"-Hiya buddy!-" Chimchar jovially greeted Turtwig. "-That was a nice battle, huh?-"

"-I guess...-" Turtwig muttered. "-So long as you don't shove your butt into my face again.-"

"-Oh yeah...sorry bout that...-" Chimchar apologized sheepishly. "-You gotta admit, it was pretty creative, though...-"

Turtwig simply rolled his eyes and grumbled, that embarrassing moment still fresh in his mind, much to the turtle's dismay.

"So you were sent out to visit Professor Rowan to thank him for the Pokémon too?" Barry asked.

"Pretty much," Dawn nodded. "Since we have our Pokémon, I'm sure we can go through the route without anyone reprimanding us."

"Right," Barry chuckled, as they headed into the grass, until he stopped. "Wait! I have a great idea!"

"Oh no..." Dawn muttered.

"You know the lake we always play at when we were kids, right?" Barry asked.

"Verity? The one that you keep claiming has the red gyarados?" Dawn asked.

"Yeah, that's the one!" Barry replied. "You know they say a legendary Pokémon lives there?"

"Please don't tell me you're thinking of...?" Dawn asked.

"You guessed it! Let's catch that Pokémon!" Barry exclaimed. "That'll make Professor Rowan happy! I'm sure of that! Me and you together, we've got nothing to fear! And if we happen to run into the red gyarados, then even better!"

Dawn stared at Barry incredulously, before slapping the palm of her hand into her face. The boy couldn't possibly be serious. They were just given starter Pokémon, yet he somehow has the idea that catching a legendary Pokémon and/or a shiny gyarados is a good idea that they're apparently capable of. It was completely asinine. All they had were a turtwig and a chimchar; the latter having a type disadvantage against a gyarados, and neither of them even knew any moves corresponding with their type yet. Not to mention it was a small turtle and a chimpanzee against a giant sea serpent, and possibly a legendary Pokémon.

"Huh? What's wrong?" Barry asked, noticing Dawn face-palming herself. "Don't worry! If things do go bad, then we'll hightail it out of there! I'll protect you no matter what!"

Dawn found herself looking up to Barry and his somewhat infectious grin, and found her expression softening up greatly. No matter how much of an idiot he could be, he did mean well. She couldn't find herself to hate the boy, and would end up following through with his hair-brained schemes in the end of the day.

"Fine," Dawn sighed. "But we run if things go south."

"Of course!" Barry reassured her.

Because Barry chose to stay by her side unlike everyone else, Dawn would never lose her faith in him.

* * *

The duo found themselves at the Verity Lakefront, which was predictably, the entrance to Lake Verity, one of the Three Great Lakes of Sinnoh.

"Here we are!" Barry grinned. "We're at the lake!"

"Oh really?" Dawn asked sarcastically.

"Yep!" Barry replied, oblivious to the sarcasm in her tone. "Get ready because we're capturing that legendary Pokémon. Trust me on this one. It's here. It even says so on the sign!"

"I highly doubt that's the..." Dawn was about to retort, until she caught the sight of a sign near the entrance to the lake.

 _ **Lake Verity Ahead**_ _  
According to legend, the lake is home  
to the Pokémon said to be "The being of  
Emotion."  
It is because of this Pokémon that  
people can experience sorrow and joy._

"...Well holy shit," Dawn muttered, surprised that the sign actually said what Barry claimed.

Deciding to not waste any more time, Barry headed into the entrance, with Dawn following him. They were greeted to the sight of the beautiful Lake Verity, one of the Three Great Lakes of Sinnoh, which were symbolic to the water-rich region. The air was calm and refreshing; a gentle breeze greeted the two and put their hearts at ease. Truly a relaxing sight.

"Huh...?" Barry asked, stopping in place.

Dawn looked up, confused as to why Barry suddenly stopped. The two looked ahead to see that someone was already there. It was a man, with spiky blue hair and cold blue eyes, wearing a stylized gray vest over a somewhat baggy black suit of sorts. The man was staring out impassively into the lake, eyeing specifically at the small island that was floating in the middle of it.

"...The flowing time...The expanding space...I will make it all mine one day..." the man said to himself. "Cyrus is my name. Remember it...Until then, sleep while you can, legendary Pokémon of the lake bed..."

The man, seemingly done with whatever it was he was doing, proceeded to head to the entrance to leave. He stopped in front of the two kids in front of him, both of them in his way.

"Wait...you..." Barry muttered, finding himself in shock, as if he recognized him.

"Allow me to pass," Cyrus said calmly and aloofly, seemingly unresponsive to the boy. "Step aside."

Before Barry could say anything else, Dawn grabbed him by the collar and dragged him out of the way, making the exit usable once more.

"Of course," Dawn replied in an equally calm and aloof tone. "Sorry for getting in your way."

Cyrus stared at Dawn for a moment, before nodding and making his leave. Once Cyrus had left, Dawn let go of Barry.

"Why did you do that?" Barry asked. "Wasn't he...?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Barry," Dawn interrupted him, her expression outright rigid in neutrality. "We were in his way, so it was only natural that we move."

Barry wanted to protest more, but he knew that tone of hers. Even if it wasn't that much different than her usual bored tone, it had an underlined trace of authority. Whenever she used that tone, to her, the discussion, argument, whatever it was they were in the middle of, was mute and null, and there was no point in pursuing it any further. At least she wouldn't go any further with it.

Barry sighed, conceding. It was understandable, considering who that man was.

Great, now she's upset! Time to lighten up the mood!

"Anyways," Barry said, bringing his tone back up. "Let's change the subject! Let's go catch us that Legendary!"

"Y'know, I didn't want to burst your bubble or anything," Dawn interrupted, deciding that now was a good time to tell him on the one flaw to his plan. "But aren't we forgetting something?"

"Huh?" Barry asked, with Turtwig and Chimchar looking up to the bluenette. "What? What're we missing? We have Turtwig and Chimchar right here?"

"...Barry, what do you use to capture a Pokémon?"

"Oh, that's easy! A pokébaaa...ooooh..."

Realization dawned onto Barry as he slowly drawled out his sentence, his face changing from an easy-going one to one full of horrified apprehension.

"Dawn! We don't have any pokéballs on us!" Barry yelled in horror. "Y'know, P-O-K-accent-E Balls?! We don't have any balls on us!"

"Yes, we don't," Dawn replied in amusement, although she knew that from the very beginning. "Well at least I don't. I mean I shouldn't, since I'm a girl, and you should, unless there's something you want to share with me today, 'Miss' Barry."

"There's no time for your innuendos and jokes, Dawn!" Barry yelled back. "How're we gonna catch the legendary Pokémon now!?"

 ***Kyaaun***

A rather serene cry interrupted them and caught their attention. They glanced to the small island in the middle of the lake, the sound of the cry having come from that direction.

"Did you hear that?" Barry asked. "That was definitely the legendary Pokémon crying! Damn it! It's so close, and we can't even catch it! It's taunting us, I swear to Arceus!"

Enraged at the situation, Barry savagely kicked a nearby rock as it soared into the air at an impressive height, before it crashed down into the lake. Not a few moments later, and something emerged from the lake at the exact spot where the rock had entered the lake. All four of them glanced up gaping as a large, blue sea serpent-like Pokémon towered over them.

"A...gyarados...?" Dawn asked.

Said gyarados seemed to have a visible bruise on its head, and was glaring at them rather murderously.

"...Damn it, it's not red!" Barry swore.

"Really?! You choose to worry about that now?!" Dawn yelled.

The gyarados roared as it charged energy into its mouth. Instinctively, Barry grabbed Dawn and moved out of the way as Gyarados shot a violent laser at where they were just standing.

"And it looks like we pissed him off too," Dawn muttered as Barry set her down. "Wonderful..."

"This is bad..." Barry muttered, now realizing the consequences of his actions. "This is really bad...but...we can still fight at least! Chimchar!"

"Barry, you idiot! No!"

Chimchar, despite being intimidated by Gyarados, mustered up as much courage as he could, and lunged at the serpent with his claws sharpened. Gyarados scoffed as he swatted the Fire-type away with little effort, punishing Chimchar to the ground.

"Chimchar!" Barry cried in horror.

Gyarados then shifted his gaze to Barry, before lunging at the boy in a full tackle.

"BARRY!" Dawn cried out.

Turtwig moved in, using Withdraw to use himself as a makeshift shield from Gyarados and to protect Barry. The raised defense managed to cause Gyarados to bounce off, but the force from the tackle caused Turtwig to crash into Barry and send the boy slamming into a tree.

"Agh!?" Barry gagged as he collided with the tree, while Dawn rushed over to him.

"Are you alright?" Dawn asked.

"Well...I could've been better..." Barry coughed. "Thanks Turtwig..."

Turtwig fell off of Barry and slowly went back to Dawn, clearly suffering a lot of pain from Gyarados's attack. Chimchar managed to recover from being swatted down and saw what had happened to Barry. Enraged at Gyarados for hurting his trainer, Chimchar lunged at the serpent once more and proceeded to scratch at it violently. Unfortunately, Gyarados felt no pain from the chimpanzee's fruitless efforts, and swatted him away once more, this time straight at Barry.

"Guh...!" Barry grunted as Chimchar shot straight at him.

The serpent loomed over them, still not done with attacking them. Barry struggled to get back up, while Turtwig managed to drag himself in front of Dawn to protect her from the monster. Dawn, meanwhile, was staring at the serpent, fear eminent in her eyes. Scoffing at the pathetic sight, Gyarados began to charge more energy into his mouth.

"Crap...not another Hyper Beam..." Barry groaned.

Turtwig lunged at Gyarados in an attempt to stop it, but Gyarados instead decided to discharge all the energy at the small turtle, blasting it back to the ground.

"Turtwig!" Dawn cried, seeing her Pokémon taking the Hyper Beam, albeit an incomplete one, directly.

By some miracle, Turtwig was still conscious, but he could barely move at all.

"-Damn it...-" Turtwig groaned in pain. "-You...won't...hurt her...-"

Sneering, Gyarados began to charge another Hyper Beam, as Dawn could only watch in horror.

' _A-Are we all gonna die here...?'_ Dawn thought as she saw Gyarados continue to charge Hyper Beam.

There was nothing she could do. Turtwig and Chimchar couldn't possibly fight any further, and they couldn't run from the gyarados, especially with Barry's injured state. Gyarados would be able to finish charging up a complete Hyper Beam and blast them all into ashes and effortlessly killing all of them off.

 ***THUD***

' _...No...'_ Dawn's thoughts were racing out of control. _'We...can't die here...If Barry dies...if I die...then I'll be all alone...I'll be all alone again...'_

 ***THUD***

' _...no...no No NO NONONONONONONONO!'_

' _Anything but that! I don't want to be alone again!'_

 ***THUD***

Her heart began to race. Her mind suddenly became blank. What resided inside of her began to resonate with her. The shadow that she casted underneath herself began to grow in diameter. And her blank mind began to flood with a great, but unholy force.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Dawn screamed out in pain, clutching her head.

Startling the Water-type, Gyarados ended up releasing the Hyper Beam prematurely at them. The shadow underneath her shot out as several shadowy tendrils which intercepted the Hyper Beam and shielding her along with the others.

"-Whoa...-" Turtwig murmured.

"D-Dawn..." Barry groaned in pain, recognizing what was happening.

The tendrils then began to shoot out at Gyarados, ensnaring the serpent at an alarming pace. Gyarados tried to break free, but the tendrils firmly took their grasp, locking it in place, before the sharp edges sunk deep within its flesh. Gyarados winced from the great pain, before glancing down at the girl who was still clutching her head in pain. The girl slowly looked up; her dilated eyes now outright glowing in a sharp platinum gleam, while the sclera of her eyes were now a pitch black.

" **Leave...them...alone..."** 'Dawn' hissed out, her tone now extremely haunting.

Gyarados outright paled at the sight. The girl was clearly different than from a few minutes ago. That vehement pressure she was giving off. The shadowy tendrils that were assaulting it. It was as if something **far** more menacing had slipped in and subtly replaced itself with the girl. Gyarados could tell that clearly this wouldn't end well. The tendrils wouldn't let go, as they continued to sink deeper into its flesh, causing it to bleed. It wouldn't be as farfetched to believe that the girl could keep this up until Gyarados bled to death. It needed to escape. It wouldn't live if this kept going on. It would die.

Gyarados nodded frantically to Dawn, seemingly agreeing to leave them. Dawn stared at Gyarados with her crazed glare, before the tendrils slowly removed themselves from Gyarados and sunk back into Dawn's enlarged shadow. Using this opportunity, the gyarados fled back into the lake, leaving a trail of red in the once pristine waters.

* * *

Dawn panted heavily, her gaze not leaving the lake for a while, until she began to calm down. Her shadow slowly reverted back to normal and her sclera reverted back to its normal white. The intense beating inside her had calmed down as well. As Barry managed to get back up, Dawn suddenly collapsed to her knees.

"Dawn!" Barry cried, practically jumping out to catch the girl before she hit the cold hard ground.

"B-Barry...?" Dawn asked tiredly.

"It's alright," Barry assured the girl. "Everything's gonna be alright..."

"The gyarados...is it gone...?" Dawn inquired weakly.

"Yeah, it's gone..."

"That's...good...I didn't want anything to happen to you..."

"Hehe...well I won't go down that easily," Barry tried to lighten up the mood somewhat.

Dawn managed to giggle slightly. Turtwig and Chimchar approached them, concerned for their wellbeing.

"I'm alright, Turtwig," Dawn assured the turtle. "More importantly, are you alright?"

"-Y-Yeah..." Turtwig muttered.

"...C'mon, let's go home..." Barry said, deciding that enough was enough.

"Oh...so you're just gonna give up on your hunt?" Dawn asked jokingly.

"Yeah...I'm not too keen on continuing after that," Barry replied.

"Right..." Dawn giggled in spite of being in pain.

Dawn helped up Barry, who was in far more physical pain than she was, and recalled their respective Pokémon, as the two slowly traversed their way back home. Despite being in more pain himself, Barry glanced at Dawn worryingly.

"You alright?" Barry asked.

"Yeah...I'm fine..." Dawn muttered. "Nothing a goodnight's rest can't fix. What about you? You took a beating."

"Nothing a goodnight's rest and some medicine can't patch up," Barry shrugged. "...I'm glad you're alright though..."

"Look, it's alright," Dawn muttered.

"But still...it was because of my idea we almost got killed day one," Barry admitted. "And it even forced you to use that power _._ "

Dawn glowered slightly as they made the trip back. She didn't want to be reminded that she had to resort to use _that_ , regardless of how grateful she was of it. It caused enough problems as it is.

"Let's just forget about it," Dawn grumbled, not wanting to be reminded of it. "Regardless, we have some explaining to do to our moms."

"Right..." Barry groaned. Neither of them were looking forward to that.

* * *

"So let me get this straight," Johanna grumbled to Dawn and Barry as she was interrogating them. "You had the bright idea to try and capture a legendary, and it ends up with you two fending off against a gyarados that wiped out your two Pokémon. Is that it?"

"...Yeah, pretty much," Barry muttered quietly, cowering under Johanna's angry glare.

Johanna sighed as she slapped her face with her palm as Jumpy finished tending to Barry's wounds while giving Dawn an ice pack.

"Thanks," Dawn mumbled as Glammy sat on her lap. Mrs. Pearl approached them, having healed Turtwig and Chimchar.

"You two were very lucky to have survived that with minimal injuries," Mrs. Pearl scolded them. "It could've turned out far worse."

"We know," the two replied.

"Uh...so...about Professor Rowan..." Barry meekly murmured.

"You'll go tomorrow," Mrs. Pearl declared. "You two had have enough for one day."

The two nodded as Turtwig and Chimchar returned to their respective trainers.

"You alright, Chimchar?" Barry asked.

The Fire-type nodded at Barry as he climbed up his back eagerly. Dawn meanwhile glanced down to Turtwig, who tried to climb up Dawn's leg. Giggling, the girl picked up Turtwig and placed him next to her. Dawn noticed that he looked gloomy; probably due to that one-sided battle against that gyarados.

"You did your best, Turtwig," Dawn assured the turtle.

That soothed Turtwig's slight depression, allowing him to relax next to her.

"It's already pretty late," Johanna insisted Dawn. "You should go to sleep."

"I guess," Dawn muttered, getting Glammy off of her lap as she picked up Turtwig and headed upstairs to her room. "Goodnight."

Once Dawn was out of earshot, Johanna faced Barry, a more grim expression sported on her face.

"So...did it happen again?" Johanna asked.

"Y-Yeah..." Barry muttered. "Uh...Mrs. Berlitz, you don't think..."

"No, she knows how to keep herself controlled," Johanna retorted. "You should know that."

"Yeah..." Barry mumbled worryingly, glancing upstairs.

"...You know she'll still need you," Johanna warned him. "You turn your back on her...break her heart...you'll regret it."

"I know that," Barry grumbled, offended that she would think he would ever consider turning on her again. "And I won't just up and abandon her."

"...I just needed to make sure," Johanna said as she turned her gaze to upstairs.

* * *

Dawn sighed as she crashed onto her bed, having changed out of her clothing into nightwear. Turtwig was resting on a cushion prepared for him on her desk.

"Well, that was an eventful day," Dawn sighed as she lied down on her bed, before glancing at Turtwig. "And you must have lots of questions for me."

"-Yeah...-" Turtwig yawned. "-What did you do back there? With those weird tentacles?-"

"...It's a long story..." Dawn muttered. "Ever since one little incident back when I was young, they ended up happening. At first I thought it was cool, but other people thought otherwise, hence causing people like those little worms back at town to hate me like that."

"-What incident?-"

"...Not now..." Dawn's expression looked rather pained. "I'll tell you one day, I promise...Just...not now..."

"-...I understand...-" Turtwig replied. "-...How can you understand me? Humans shouldn't be able to understand Pokémon.-"

"You didn't seem to question that earlier."

"-Well that's until I saw that no one else could understand me.-"

"Call it a perk from this power."

"-That makes sense, I guess,-" Turtwig nodded his head.

"Yeah," Dawn said. "So? Do you still want to be my Pokémon?"

"-Huh?-" Turtwig asked.

"After seeing that...I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't want to be near me," Dawn reasoned. "I mean people still hate me...fear me...treat me like a witch. You'd fall under the same prejudice just by being with me."

Turtwig stared at Dawn, confused. Why would he not want to be her Pokémon? I mean sure she could do things normal humans couldn't ever do, and she could be terrifying when she wanted, but she proved that she was a nice and compassionate person. Not to mention how she handled Barry was pretty funny.

Sure people might call her a witch, but she herself was far from it. Turtwig didn't get why people would be afraid of her. If they just got to know her better, then surely they would see that she's not a witch and a good person. And he'll make sure of it.

"-No, I'll stay,-" Turtwig declared. "-I'm your first Pokémon. And you're my first trainer. We stick together. No matter what.-"

Dawn looked slightly shocked, before smiling gratefully.

"Thank you," Dawn showed her gratitude. "Hopefully you don't end up regretting it."

Turtwig smiled, before yawning and falling asleep. Giggling, Dawn decided to tuck herself in bed, exhausted from all the havoc that happened today. She stared at the darkness that filled her room. She then stared at her window. It was clear; perfectly clear. It was like a mirror.

' _Your day was interesting, to say the least,'_ a voice echoed in her mind.

"Yes it was," Dawn replied. "Thanks for saving me by the way."

' _Of course. I did say I would protect you, no matter what.'_

"True..."

' _So, now what?'_

"Now? Now I go to sleep. And tomorrow, I head out to Professor Rowan's lab."

' _You do realize there's a chance you'll end up going on a journey.'_

"You think?"

' _You received a Pokémon from a regional renowned researcher. It's becoming a trend for them to pick children to help in their research. Kanto and Hoenn did so, followed by Johto.'_

"You do have a point...well if that does happen, then you would like that wouldn't you?"

' _...Yes...yes I would...'_

"...We can discuss this tomorrow. I want to go to sleep."

' _Very well. If you do end up going on a journey, we'll talk more. But for now, you need rest.'_

"Couldn't agree more..."

' _Sweet dreams, Dawn.'_

"Yeah...goodnight...Giratina..."

* * *

 **To be continued**

* * *

 **AN:** Yeah, she's pretty unique, isn't she? Now I know there's bound to be questions such as what the hell just happened, why Dawn has powers that look like they came straight out of HP Lovecraft, and why she already knows Giratina, etc, but those will be explained as the story progresses. But for now, this would be a good place to stop.

Anyways, if you like it, great for you. Make sure to favorite and follow to stay up-to-date when a new chapter gets published. If not, well sorry for wasting your time and thanks for wasting your time on this, and then get out. Reviews, critiques and advice on how I can make this story better are appreciated.

And that outta be it, so I'll see you next time. Thanks for coming, hope you all have a Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays.


	2. Freedom for the first time

**Platinum Witch**

 **Chapter 2: Freedom for the first time**

* * *

 **AN:** Welp, better late than never. Hello again, and here is chapter 2 of Platinum Witch! I'm just gonna get straight to the point.

But first, reviews! And I gotta say, the reception to the first chapter was a lot better than I expected, to be honest.

 **LucasFrost:** Well congratulations for being the first review! And thanks, hopefully I'll live up to your expectations.

 **Tony Anderson:** Well thank you, and hope you had a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

 **I. M . Poik:** Well you got the starter and trainer pair right (I mean there was one possible option left anyways :P), and Lucas will have his screentime, don't you worry. If it'll be as important as say, Barry, I don't know maybe. Either way Lucas is at least more important to the plot than the gym leaders and Rowan, so at least I'm not gonna neglect him a lot.

 **zeffron42:** Oh yeah, I remember you, don't you worry. I don't know, maybe Dawn's and Cyrus's possible relation is predictable. Maybe not. I mean I could tell you right now, but that'll just ruin the plot. And I'd rather show all of you that there is something definitely wrong with Dawn first than focus on a minor character (at the moment). Also to be honest Lucas isn't as important as Barry to me anyways, considering even in the games Barry has more plot and character development than him anyways, so make of that what you will. Besides I already instilled Lucas's fair share of flaws anyways.

 **Knight of Wings:** Well yeah, her powers have Giratina written all over it. And yes, the only noteworthy characters right now are probably the cynic Dawn and the ball of sunshine that is Barry. Don't worry everyone else will get their share of character development. And I mean, if you have a legendary talking in your head for x amount of time compared to say, befriending a legendary late-way in your life, then the legendary talking to you in your head would build a more natural bond than the latter tbh. Overall, thank you for the thought out review.

 **Eris:** Yeah I liked how the Turtwig v Chimchar fight went honestly. Well there's a bunch of hidden depths in all of the characters, which will be explained as the plot goes on, so for now I'll just leave the term 'don't judge a book by its cover' there and leave it at that for now.

 **Quagsire12:** Thanks! Look forward to more!

 **Defender31415:** Thanks man. Well hopefully, this chapter provides some insight of why Dawn has her HP Lovecraftian powers.

 **xQEAx:** Glad you like it so far, although if I do end up going for Dawn x Barry, I do hope you understand. What pairing I'm gonna do, you ask? Well, like how I usually set these up in the beginning, I have absolutely no idea whatsoever.

 **Ultimateheatblast4:** Oh don't worry I won't quit on my stories (except for one, but that's cuz I didn't like how it turned out). I just suck at updating on a regular basis, so bear with me. Lucas will get his character development, and the plot will reveal the answers you want, but for now, here's going to Sandgem.

Alright let's go to Sandgem everybody!

* * *

 _It glowed a brilliant amber color, previously preserved in a glass case that had now been shattered into millions of pieces, and now, along with her, in the grasps of someone she didn't know._

 _In spite of all the chaos that was occurring around it at the moment, it still glowed a beautiful amber luster._

 _She was intrigued by it. She should fear for her life right now, but the shard in the stranger's hands brought her attention away from it all._

 _It seemed to be beckoning for it. It was crying out for her to hold it in her tiny palms._

 _So, when the stranger was distracted with the police, she slowly and quietly grasped towards it, answering its silent call._

 _And for the first time in millenniums, ever since it was stripped away from its original owner, and brutally shattered..._

 _The shard finally claimed itself a new host._

* * *

Sunlight leaked through the window, hitting Turtwig on the head, waking up the small turtle. Yawning, Turtwig got up groggily, cracking his jaw.

"-Right...I'm with my trainer now...-" Turtwig yawned.

The turtle then looked towards the bed where his trainer, Dawn, should be sleeping. The turtle's eyes widened when he saw her blonde friend on top of her sleeping form.

"PSSST! Dawn!" Barry whispered, poking at her face to wake her up. "Daaaaaaaaawn...!"

Turtwig didn't know what to do. The situation was too bizarre for him to react properly. He couldn't even figure out how he got into the room without either him or Dawn noticing.

"-Sh-Should I do something...?-" the turtle asked himself.

Eventually, Barry's insistent poking showed their results, as Dawn groaned, slowly opening her eyes groggily to see the blonde boy on top of her.

"Morning!" Barry smiled as if there was nothing wrong with what he was doing.

Dawn stared at the boy for a good few seconds, before registering that he was on top of her, and proceeded to smash her fist into his face, sending him straight into the ceiling.

"Next time, I'm calling the police," Dawn growled as she got out of bed and Barry fell onto the bed.

"Auu..." Barry whined as he rubbed his jaw. "That wasn't very nice."

"Neither is breaking into my room while I'm asleep," Dawn hissed.

"Oh c'mon, it's not like this is the first time," Barry replied, as he got up unfazed from being punched into the ceiling.

Dawn rolled her eyes as she went over to pet Turtwig on the head.

"Sorry about that," Dawn smiled. "I didn't wake you up, did I?"

"-No, I woke up first,-" Turtwig assured her. "-Sorry for not doing anything...I didn't exactly know how to react...-"

"It's fine," Dawn said, before glaring at Barry. "I don't expect you to not be weirded out by him."

Barry grumbled something under his breath as he released Chimchar.

"Rise and shine, Chimchar!" Barry exclaimed.

The fire monkey yawned as he looked up to his new trainer, giving the blonde boy a drowsy, yet hearty smile.

"Now then, let's get going!" Barry smiled. "Your mom's making breakfast!"

With that, the boy rushed out of Dawn's room, and slid down the stairs with Chimchar in his arms, leaving Dawn and Turtwig alone.

"...Better get ready then..." Dawn mumbled tiredly, getting up and stripping out of her nightgown. Turtwig had the decency to look away as Dawn changed into her normal clothing.

' _Morning,'_ the voice echoed to her.

"Morning," Dawn replied as she changed into her white under shirt.

' _So, today's the day huh.'_

"Yeah...I go get a pokédex and go out on a journey like all the other privileged 10-year-olds. Whoopie..." Dawn said sarcastically as she put on her black sleeveless shirt.

' _Someone doesn't sound too happy,'_ the voice snickered. _'There also may be a possibility that you won't have to go on a journey, you know.'_

"Well I didn't exactly ask for it," Dawn grumbled as she pulled up her skirt. "Besides, two random kids were given Pokémon by Sinnoh's Pokémon researching professor. The situation is perfect for giving Rowan an excuse to give us a pokedex and send us off onto a journey. Frankly, I hope we get to go on a journey. It gives me a plausible excuse to leave this place and never having to return."

' _Even if that means leaving your mother behind?'_

Dawn stopped motion as she pulled up her sock. Her eyes narrowed at the question.

"...Even if I have to leave Mom here too," Dawn stated coldly as she resumed to pull up her sock.

' _You were never good with lying about the people you care about,'_ the voice drawled.

"No, I'm just good at lying to everyone else," Dawn retorted.

" _True,"_ the voice conceded as Dawn finished changing. _'...Once everything's settled, we'll talk more.'_

"Very well," Dawn dismissed as the voice stopped responding.

Turtwig, having had the decency to not stare as his master changed out of her nightwear, was confused as to whom Dawn was talking to. The turtle tilted his head in confusion as he heard Dawn walk up to him.

"Alright, let's go," Dawn said as she picked up Turtwig in her arms and headed out the room.

"-Uh...Dawn...?-" Turtwig asked. "-Who were you talking to? Back there?-"

"Hm?" Dawn asked. "Oh right, I never did tell you about him."

"-Him?-" Turtwig asked.

"Don't worry about it too much," Dawn said. "That's just Giratina."

"-Giratina?-" Turtwig tilted his head in confusion.

"Oh, he's just an imaginary friend I have," Dawn wrote it off. "Childish, maybe, but I owe him a lot. He did help keep me happy."

"-Okay then...-" Turtwig said somewhat hesitantly, not wanting to show any disapproval to her.

"I know you may find it weird," Dawn said. "But Gira's been with me ever since I was a child. I wouldn't know how I would've survived without his constant support."

Turtwig looked up to Dawn. She had a gentle, genuinely happy expression on her face. Seeing such a tender expression on her, Turtwig couldn't say anything about her so-called 'imaginary friend'.

"-I mean, if you're happy and okay with it, then I don't have any problems,-" Turtwig said, simply deciding to nuzzle his head against Dawn's arm.

Dawn looked a bit surprised, but smiled at him.

"Thank you," Dawn told her turtle for accepting the fact that she had an imaginary friend.

* * *

As Dawn walked downstairs, her mother, Johanna, had already set a plate of fried eggs, bacon, and toast in front of an empty seat, while Barry was already chowing down on a similar platter.

"Morning Dawn," Johanna said. "Breakfast is ready."

Dawn yawned as she went over to the table, setting Turtwig down near her. As Turtwig got back onto his legs, a bowl of Pokémon food was set in front of him. He looked up to see Jumpy, the kangaskhan, having set the bowl for him.

"-Eat up, young one,-" Jumpy said motherly, the young baby in her pouch staring at Turtwig curiously.

Turtwig nodded, before proceeding to chow down on the food provided to him. Glammy, the glameow, made her way onto Dawn's lap, purring happily while rubbing herself against Dawn's legs.

"Morning to you too, Glammy," Dawn smiled as she began to eat her breakfast.

"So, today's the big day, huh," Johanna said.

"Yeah..." Dawn mumbled as she chewed on a piece of toast.

"What kind of Pokémon you think we'll run into?" Barry decided to ask her.

"How should I know?" Dawn asked. "We've never actually went outside Twinleaf on our own. Why don't you just go catch a starly or something when we get out of here."

"Hm...a starly would be a nice start," Barry mumbled, deep in thought.

Dawn simply shrugged as she finished off her meal. A Pokémon huh. What kind of Pokémon should she catch? Oh well, she shouldn't put in too much thought into it. She would just catch whatever peaked her interests. Simple as that.

"If you're done eating, then we should get going," Dawn grumbled as she got up and headed back upstairs, leaving Barry to hastily finish his meal.

"Don't eat so fast Barry," Johanna chuckled. "You'll choke on your food."

"No I wo–GUEH!? AGH!?" Barry began to scoff, before promptly choking on his food. Jumpy rolled her eyes, before smacking Barry hard on the back, making the boy choke out his food. "Ugh...thanks Jumpy."

Jumpy sighed as she collected Dawn's plate. Chimchar and Turtwig finished their meals, before the turtle looked around, seeing no Dawn in the vicinity.

"-Hey, where's Dawn?-" Turtwig asked, looking up to Barry for a response.

"Huh?" Barry asked, noticing Turtwig. "What, you want to know where Dawn is?"

Turtwig nodded, where Barry chuckled and gently patted Turtwig on the head.

"Don't worry, she probably just went up to go get her hat and coat," Barry assured the small turtle. "She'll be back."

"So you snuck into her room again?" Johanna asked.

"No idea what you're talking about, Mrs. Berlitz," Barry tried to play coy.

"So if I go up to her room now, will I not see your imprint on the ceiling again?"

"...M-Maybe?"

"I thought as much," Johanna sighed. "Look, you're a nice kid Barry, and Dawn likes you a lot, despite what her usual attitude may say. If you value your organs, then don't give her a reason to cause permanent internal damage."

"Is that even a thing?"

"It might be if you keep this up."

As Barry and Johanna chatted to themselves, Dawn came back down to the living room, now wearing her white beanie and red coat. Turtwig spotted the girl and happily rushed over to her.

"You ready to go?" Barry asked.

"Yeah, yeah," Dawn said as she picked up Turtwig. "Alright Mom, we'll be off!"

Johanna waved them goodbye as they left, where Johanna sighed and picked up Barry's dish.

"Well, I better get her things ready," Johanna said to herself. "It would be a surprise if Dawn _doesn't_ go on a journey."

* * *

Lucas sighed as he finished preparing the two empty pokedexes for the two new dexholders to be. To think the professor would just give out the two starter Pokémon so easily like handouts. And to two random kids no less. Sometimes what the professor did made the slate gray-haired boy question his logic. But he knew better than to truly question the professor. He must know what he is doing.

"Lucas! Are the pokedexes ready?"

Speak of the devil. Lucas turned to see the professor with his usual scowl. The boy brought the two pokedexes with him and handed them to Rowan.

"Here you are, Professor," Lucas said. "I preset them to their default functions."

"Very good," Rowan nodded. "Everything is set. All we have to do is wait for them to arrive."

"...Professor, if I may," Lucas decided to ask. "Why did you provide those two with a Pokémon?"

"Hm? Why you ask?" Rowan asked. "Hm...You should've seen the expression the blonde one had when he asked that I provided his friend a pokédex in his stead. Not to mention his friend's unreadable expression. They both intrigued me. I wanted to take a chance by giving them the means of going on a journey. I wanted to see what kind of people those two would become by going on a journey."

"...I see..." Lucas said absently as the professor mused. "...To see what kind of people they would become...huh..."

Before Rowan could say anything else, loud banging began to fill the lab, coming from the front door.

"HELLO!? IS ANYONE THERE?! HEEELLOOOO!? PROFESSOR ROWAN~!?"

"Barry would you calm down? The door won't hold if you keep banging on it like that."

"It's not like you're any better! You punch stronger and harder than me anyways."

"Oh, would you like a demonstration then?"

"Hmph, it looks like they're here," Rowan said.

Before either Rowan or Lucas made a move, the door busted open, with Barry flying through it and crashing right in front of Rowan's shoes; a visible punch mark as clear as day on his poor cheek. Dawn walked in, dusting her hands off as if nothing happened at all.

"Are you sure this was a good idea, Professor?" Lucas asked hesitantly, looking at Barry's unconscious state.

"She's certainly a lot stronger than most girls nowadays," Rowan chuckled. "Probably stronger than you too, Lucas."

Lucas leered the other way; face flushed in embarrassment as Dawn walked up to the professor, leaning down to pick up Barry and proceeding to slap him awake.

"Wake up, you're not that weak," Dawn drawled.

As if in response, the boy stood back up quickly as if he hadn't been punched at all, before noticing Rowan and Lucas.

"Hey, Professor Rowan! Weird French dude!" Barry greeted with a hearty smile.

"Weird French...?" Lucas muttered in shock.

"At least remember his name," Dawn grumbled.

"You make a quick recovery," Rowan said to Barry.

"Hehe! It takes this much to be around Dawn all the time!" Barry grinned.

"Regardless," Rowan said. "You two. Let's have a look at your Pokémon, shall we?"

Dawn and Barry glanced at each other, before releasing Turtwig and Chimchar in front of Rowan.

"-What's going on? Why're we here again?-" Turtwig asked, glancing back up to Dawn. Strangely, Dawn didn't respond to the turtle.

"Hm...They seem to be doing well," Rowan said, noting their actions. "In fact, I can assume that they're very happy being with you two!"

"Well that's good to hear!" Barry smiled. "It would be bad if they didn't like us."

"Well then, it would seem that entrusting you two with them was no mistake," Rowan nodded. "Pray tell, would you like to give them a nickname?"

"OH SWEET!" Barry exclaimed. "Alright you head that Wukong? You got a name!"

"'Wukong'?" Dawn arched an eyebrow.

"Hey it sounds cool," Barry defended himself.

"'Wukong', huh..." Rowan mused. "Supposedly after 'Sun Wukong', the Monkey King of the Journey of the West...surprisingly clever, if I do say so myself. And you, Dawn?"

Dawn glanced at Turtwig, before kneeling down to him.

"Would you like a nickname?" Dawn asked.

Turtwig glanced up to Dawn curiously, tilting his head to the side. After a moment of consideration, Turtwig shook his head.

"-I don't need one,-" Turtwig declared to her.

"Alright then," Dawn smiled.

"When I first saw you two about to step into the tall grass without any Pokémon, I was shocked," Rowan said. "I was astounded by you children risking something as foolhardy and suicidal as that. But now, you two have astounded me in a different way. Already you two established a growing bond with the Pokémon you chose. I can't help but say that I feel privileged to have met children like you two. I'm sure Turtwig and Chimchar feel the same way as well. That is why I'll ask you to cherish them."

"W-Well, that's pretty flattering," Barry said, rubbing his head in modesty. "And of course! Wukong here is my first Pokémon. Of course I'll treasure him!"

"But of course," Dawn simply stated, maintaining her usual stoic expression.

' _What? You don't feel flattered that a renowned professor complimented you?'_ Giratina teased.

Dawn hissed internally as she pushed the mocking voice to the back of her mind while Lucas decided to interject.

"Professor, the pokédex," Lucas said.

"Oh of course!" Rowan exclaimed. "There is something I want you two to do for me."

' _Here it comes,'_ both Dawn and Giratina thought.

"As you two may be aware, I study Pokémon," Rowan explained. "First of all, I want to know exactly what kinds of Pokémon live in the Sinnoh region. To do so, it is necessary to collect data using the pokédex."

Rowan then motioned Lucas to come forth as the boy presented the two sleek red devices to them.

"This is what I wish to ask of you," Rowan said. "I want to entrust you two with these pokédex. Will you use it to record data on all the Pokémon in Sinnoh for me?"

"Heck yeah!" Barry quickly agreed, accepting the device and ogling at it like it was a valuable treasure.

Dawn stared at the red device, seemingly contemplating on whether to take it or not.

' _So what'll it be?'_ Giratina inquired. _'By taking that, you won't be able to turn back.'_

' _I know,'_ Dawn mentally grumbled, before glancing up to Rowan.

"...I can stand here without speaking for hours," Rowan said calmly. "I'm a very patient man. If you wish to not accept the role, then that is your choice."

Dawn arched a brow at Rowan's response, before glancing to the red device. By accepting that and the professor's task, she would have to go out into the world; facing off against whatever kind of obstacle gets in her way, any person that decides to harm her and Barry, and whatever fate decides to throw at them. Not to mention she would be leaving her mother; one of the only people who actually cared for her; alone in that damnable town.

But then again, if this could get her out of there...

"...I accept," Dawn declared, accepting the pokédex. The old man smiled.

"Excellent!" Rowan said. "When you walked up Route 201 with your Pokémon, what did you feel? I've lived for 60 long years. Even now, I get a thrill when I'm with a Pokémon. Now, you should know that there are countless Pokémon in this world. That means there are just as many thrills waiting for you out there! Now go you two! Your grand adventure begins right now!"

"Yes sir!" Barry exclaimed eagerly, rushing out of the lab without a second thought, leaving Dawn in the lab.

"He's pretty energetic, huh," Lucas said.

"It makes up for him being a general idiot," Dawn shrugged.

"Ah, a moment Dawn," Rowan said, getting the girl's attention. "I just wanted to let you know, if you have any worries, anything you would like to talk about during your journey, feel free to contact me. I will gladly be of assistance."

Dawn raised a skeptical eye at the professor, but nodded in response as she left to go after Barry.

"Professor?" Lucas asked. "Why did you say that all of a sudden?"

"...When I first ran into those kids," Rowan said. "She claimed that Pokémon were the few things that did not anger her. How she said it and how she worded it...there must be some troubled thoughts and secrets the girl is shouldering. As if she harbors a deep resentment towards many things. Going out onto a journey means that she must face whatever it is that is troubling her. I simply wish to let her know that I will always be of assistance, whatever it may be, to the best of my abilities."

"Is that so..." Lucas muttered.

"Of course, I will be counting on you as well in the pokédex expedition," Rowan said. "Do get along with your two new rookies."

"Of course professor," Lucas said, before leaving.

Of course he would get along with the two new recruits. They were just starting off of course. They would need as much help as they can. And he would do his best to help them out if they need it.

After all, he has the most experience out of the three.

* * *

"So Professor Rowan asked you two to do something that big," Johanna commented as she poured a cup of tea for Dawn, Barry, Mrs. Pearl and herself. "Honestly actually did see this one coming."

"So I wasn't the only one," Dawn said as she took a sip out of her cup as Turtwig nibbled on a poffin.

"Wait, everyone saw that coming but not me?!" Barry exclaimed in shock as Wukong was munching on a cookie.

"Well I mean it was pretty obvious it would end up like this," Dawn said.

"Alright you two," Mrs. Pearl interjected, carrying with her a brown shoulder bag. "You two need to be prepared for anything out there."

"What's that?" Barry asked as Mrs. Pearl gave him the bag.

"Your stuff," Mrs. Pearl explained. "Johanna and I figured this would happen so we prepared your stuff."

At that notion, Johanna produced a white bag and two journals from the closet and presented it to Dawn, which she accepted.

"There, it has all the essentials you'll need," Johanna said. "Including medicinal items, pokéballs, a town map and changes of clothes."

"Thanks Mom," Dawn said.

"And here," Johanna continued, presenting the two journals to them. "A Journal for you two to keep track of what happened on a daily basis. Outta be useful as a diary of sorts."

"Thanks Mrs. Berlitz!" Barry exclaimed as they accepted the journals.

"Gee, a journey full of adventure," Johanna sighed. "I envy you, kiddo. Plus you're not alone. You have your Pokémon with you, and Barry. I wish I could go instead."

' _I wouldn't mind if you came along with us...'_ Dawn thought, still not liking the idea of leaving her mother behind.

"Hehe, I'm just joking, dear!" Johanna laughed, sporting a teasing expression. "Don't worry Dawn, I'll be all right by myself here, so you go and enjoy your adventure!"

Dawn didn't exactly know how to feel about that. Happy since her mother assured her that she would be fine. Sad and guilty that she had to leave her mother here in the first place. Mad, even, that her mother would make a joke like that and tease her emotions so callously, even if she didn't mean to. Well, at least to her it was callous.

Dawn shook it off, summing it up to her mother cheering her up and being optimistic in her own way.

"When you're exposed to new things, and experience new sensations... It makes your mother happy, too," Johanna sighed. "...But come back sometimes. I would like to see the kinds of Pokémon you've caught, dear."

"...Of course Mom..." Dawn said. _'No promises...unfortunately...but I can't let her know that.'_

"And you Barry," Mrs. Pearl addressed her son. "Since Johanna said pretty much what I was going to tell you, you make sure you keep Dawn out of harm's way. And don't do anything stupid or reckless."

"I know, Mom," Barry said, before becoming more determined. "I'll make sure no one messes with Dawn!"

"And if you do see your dad, tell him I'll be waiting when he comes back," Mrs. Pearl said with a dark glint in her eye.

"Well that's if I do end up finding Dad," Barry shrugged.

"Alright then, now have fun out there," Mrs. Pearl said. "And stay safe!"

"Will do Mom," Barry smiled. "Alright Dawn, you ready?"

Dawn nodded, before getting herself ready as Turtwig went up to her, while Wukong jumped onto Barry's shoulder. Barry went out of the house, with Dawn following the blonde, leaving the two adults to themselves.

"But still, a journey huh," Mrs. Pearl said.

"Yeah," Johanna sighed. "I'm sure Dawn's glad to have found a reason to get out of here."

"And you're alright with that?" Mrs. Pearl asked. "I mean they're both around that age, and Barry is still a teenage boy and Dawn is still a teenage girl with a dangerously short skirt and it's not like she doesn't hate Barry or anything..."

"Oh please," Johanna scoffed. "Dawn would castrate Barry before he could even molest her; much less rape her. It's not like she actually punches harder than Barry anyways, and Barry knows better and won't do that because he respects Dawn too much to actually try and rape her. ...Wow I can't believe we're talking about your son potentially raping my daughter."

"Oh unfortunately..." Mrs. Pearl sighed. "But beside the point...are you sure it's okay to let her go out into the world like that...?"

"...I can't keep her here forever," Johanna replied with a melancholic tone. "She would want nothing more than to just leave this place where everyone ostracizes her and treats her like a witch, even if it means leaving me here behind. I don't mind; as long as Dawn's happy, then I'm happy."

"Johanna..."

"...Although...those two would make a cute couple, considering Barry's pretty much the only guy around her age that she actually likes," Johanna admitted.

"That is true," Mrs. Pearl agreed.

"...If anything, she's going to be on top if they do decide to do it."

Mrs. Pearl simply sighed.

* * *

Lucas took a glance at his pokétch, noting how it was starting to head towards twilight and sighed. Currently the boy, under orders of Professor Rowan, was to intercept the two new trainers; whom Rowan suspected would return home to confirm with their parents that they would be going on the journey; and teach them about the basic facilities of outer towns, such as pokécenters and pokémarts, along with teaching them how to catch a Pokémon.

Standing next to him was a small light-blue penguin with a dark blue head with a primarily white face and a short yellow beak. The penguin crossed his flippers across its chest area, stamping the ground impatiently.

"-Late!-" the penguin roared to himself. "-Absolutely unacceptable! They keep us waiting!-"

"Calm down, Piplup," Lucas sighed. "It's not like they're expecting us to be waiting for them anyways."

Piplup simply huffed, while Lucas sighed at his starter Pokémon. He couldn't help it; piplups were naturally prideful Pokémon after all. The boy simply went back to waiting, glancing back at his pokétch from time to time. He didn't understand why he had to do this. Sure they were from a dead end town like Twinleaf (although Sandgem wasn't much of an improvement), but surely they knew what a pokémart, or at least what a pokécenter was. And it wasn't like catching a Pokémon was rocket science. It all boiled down to throwing a pokéball at a Pokémon at the right time; preferably when it's weakened by your own Pokémon.

But he would do it anyways. He was Professor Rowan's assistant after all; and is more experienced than them. He needed to set an example as a more experienced trainer.

"So what kind of Pokémon are you gonna get, Dawn?"

"I don't know...as long as it doesn't annoy me..."

Lucas looked up and glanced to the entrance of Sandgem Town to see the two trainers he was waiting for; the blonde one talking up a storm excitedly to the brooding bluenette, with the turtwig and chimchar walking in front of them.

"There they are," Lucas said. "Hey!"

The two looked up to see him, exchanged glances and walked up to him.

"Hey, it's the weird French dude," Barry commented, causing Lucas to twitch slightly.

"At least remember his name, dumbass," Dawn sighed, before glancing to Lucas slightly apologetically. "Sorry about that...Lucas, right?"

"Well at least someone remembers my name," Lucas laughed it off. "Anyways, the Professor wanted me to show you two around the basic facilities, such as pokécenters and pokémarts, and he wanted me to teach you two how to catch a Pokémon."

"Lead the way then," Dawn said, wanting to get on with it and over with.

"Alright then," Lucas nodded as he guided the two to the town's pokécenter. "By the way, did you two already inform your parents about the pokédex?"

"Yeah," Dawn mumbled.

"Alright," Lucas said, as they stopped at the red facility. "This is the pokécenter. You can get your Pokémon healed if it's been hurt in battle. You two need to heal your Pokémon?"

"Nah, we didn't run into much trouble anyways," Barry smiled.

"Alright then, that's good. You'll find a Pokémon Center in most towns," Lucas nodded, before leading them to another building with a blue roof on it. "Over here, the building with the blue roof is the pokémart. It's a shop where you can buy and sell all sorts of items. Since you're both rookie trainers, you won't be able to buy very much stuff for now. Don't worry about it, OK?"

"Hey who're you calling rookies?!" Barry questioned, sounding offended.

"Well, I mean he's not wrong," Dawn said.

"...Anyways," Lucas decided to ignore Barry. "Now, we should be heading out to Route 202. I'll show you two how to catch a Pokémon out there."

Grumbling that he got ignored by the weird French dude, Barry scowled as he followed Lucas and Dawn out to Route 202.

"Is your friend okay?" Lucas whispered to Dawn.

"He'll be fine," Dawn rolled her eyes. "You probably just hurt his pride that's all. He'll get over it."

"If you say so," Lucas said. "Also...is he always like that?"

"Always like what?"

"Well...he's pretty...'loud'...and eccentric...to say the least."

"He's always been an idiot, don't worry about it too much. Although he does have his pride; and he's not an average rookie, anyways."

"What do you mean by that?" Lucas asked.

"His father is an experienced trainer," Dawn explained. "And Barry's been learning under him, until he left. So assuming he still remembers the lessons he learned from his father, he should be better than the average rookie."

"...That's...pretty unexpected, to be honest," Lucas admitted. He hadn't expected that much about the blonde idiot.

"Well you tend to know these kinds of things if the idiot's your only friend," Dawn shrugged.

"He's you're only friend?" Lucas asked, giving her a pitying look.

"Yes, pity me if you must," Dawn rolled her eyes in irritation. "However, he's my idiot. He means the best."

"Must be tough then," Lucas said sympathetically. "Especially if you only have him as a friend."

"...I can only guess why you don't seem to like Barry," Dawn leered at him. "Understandable, since he called you a 'weird French dude' like twice, and didn't even remember your name. Although I'd advise if you didn't just automatically scorn him simply based on a bad first impression."

"Oh? Pretty fervent on defending your friend there, are we?" Lucas asked.

"But of course," Dawn said. "He's my only friend after all."

Lucas stared at Dawn intriguingly. The girl never dropped her stoic expression and uncaring gaze in her rather exotic platinum-colored eyes throughout the whole conversation; even when he was offhandedly insulting her own friend; betraying no emotions. She was unreadable. He didn't know what to think of her, or what she could possibly be thinking of him or about anyone in general.

She was interesting, simply put it.

* * *

As far as Barry was concerned, he didn't like the weird French dude.

He was ignoring him and striking up a conversation with Dawn as they headed out to Route 202.

Now, that wouldn't normally be a problem for Barry. The weird French dude seemed to be treating Dawn nice enough, and Barry would be more than happy for Dawn to make more friends that weren't just him and her imaginary friend with the admittedly badass name.

No the problem was how the weird French dude thought of him.

Unknown to the weird French dude, Barry had rather perceptive hearing, and was able to overhear the conversation he was having with Dawn. While he dismissed Dawn's insults directed to him (since that was the norm and he knew better than to actually take them to heart), Frenchy had the gall to insult him behind his back. He could easily tell that Frenchy McGee didn't think fondly of him, if their first impression and how Lucas kept soundly ignoring him back in Sandgem was any proof at that. His indirect and subtle insults regarding the blonde boy was just icing on the cake. Not to mention Sir French-a-lot besmirched his pride as a trainer beforehand, acting as if he was the superior trainer or some dumb stuff like that. Sure Wukong was his first Pokémon, but he learned everything he knew from Dad, and Dad was one of the best trainers he knew! If anything, he was way better than those snot-nosed brats that kept picking on Dawn before she traumatized them for life (which they deserved), and he was damn sure that he was better than French Baguette Boy over here.

All this warranted Barry to not like Beret Boy. And contrary to his initial thoughts, he would be damned if Dawn became friends with this twat.

"Alright, we're here," Frenchy MacGuffin announced. "You two are new to this right? So I'll demonstrate how to catch a Pokémon, so just watch, okay?"

"Hold up, Frenchy!" Barry interjected. "We don't need you to show us how to catch a Pokémon!"

"...Is that so?" Frencher glanced at Barry with a rather haughty glance (at least to him). "And you know any better?"

"Catching a Pokémon isn't hard to understand!" Barry shot back. "You just need to find one, weaken it with your Pokémon, and then hurl a pokéball at it! What's hard to understand about that?! And I don't like that arrogant tone of yours!"

"I don't exactly recall thinking myself of being arrogant," he muttered. "I was just _kindly_ offering you two a demonstration of how to catch a Pokémon."

"And I'm saying that we don't need that," Barry shot back. "In fact, I can show Dawn how to catch a Pokémon better than you."

Barry and French Almighty glared at each other, where Dawn simply glanced at the two boys with a rather disinterested look.

"Oh really now?" Arrogant French Dude said. "Alright then."

Napoleon glanced over to a nearby patch of grass, where he spotted a blue bat-like Pokémon and an avian Pokémon with primarily grayish-brown plumage resting at a nearby tree. Now normally Barry would question what a zubat is doing in Route 202, since they weren't known to be normally located here, but he didn't care at the moment. He had bigger French fish to fry right now.

"We'll demonstrate how to catch a Pokémon, using the zubat and starly over there," Stupid Arrogant Frencher declared. "I'll go for the zubat. You go for the starly. Whichever captures their target first and better wins. How's that sound?"

"Sounds good to me," Barry smirked, motioning Wukong to get ready. "We'll show you!"

"We'll just see now, won't we?" Arrogant Frenchy McGee snarled, motioning his piplup to get ready as well.

"-Alright, we'll show you!-" Wukong roared excitedly, not understanding the venom going on between his trainer and Lucas.

"-Hmph, just don't make a fool out of yourself,-" Piplup chastised, fully understanding the venom going on between his trainer and the blonde fool, even if he thought it was foolish in its own right.

* * *

Those two completely forgot about her as they waged a full-on battle against the two flying-types.

"Idiots..." Dawn rolled her eyes as Wukong shot a stream of embers at the bird. "They're just indulging in their own clash of egos."

Dawn and Turtwig watched as the two competed against one another, fighting their own respective target and occasionally each other. The girl knew that Barry didn't like Lucas, and Lucas didn't have the best opinion about Barry. Of course they would clash heads the moment something ignited it. She could only imagine what kind of derogative terms Barry thought of and used to label Lucas as they made it to the route. Probably something to do with French. Honestly just because Lucas is wearing a beret, doesn't mean he's French. That's just insulting to actual French people. Or Kalosians, whichever you prefer to call them as. They don't seem to mind so long as you're not racist to them.

Glancing at the two new Pokémon in front of her, she decided to test out that pokédex she was trusted with.

"Starly, the starling Pokémon. Because they are weak individually, they form groups. However, they bicker if the group grows too big."

"Zubat, the bat Pokémon. It checks its surroundings and location using reflections of the ultrasonic waves from its mouth."

"Huh, this is actually pretty useful," Dawn commented as she read through the data the pokédex provided for her, before deciding to scan the three starters as well.

"Turtwig, the tiny leaf Pokémon. The shell on its back is made of soil. On a very healthy turtwig, the shell should feel moist."

"Chimchar, the chimp Pokémon. It is very agile. Before going to sleep, it extinguishes the flame on its tail to prevent fires."

"Piplup, the penguin Pokémon. A poor walker, it often falls down. However, its strong pride makes it puff up its chest without a care."

Dawn glanced at the provided data, before glancing at Barry and Wukong, and then at Lucas and Piplup.

"Like Pokémon, like trainer, I suppose," Dawn shrugged, before glancing down at Turtwig. "Are you holding out alright?"

"-Yeah,-" Turtwig nodded. "-How come Barry and Lucas are fighting?-"

"Well, because these two don't like each other very much," Dawn explained softly. "And they apparently find the need to butt heads when it's not necessary and arguably stupid."

"-Uh huh...-" Turtwig mumbled, as he saw Wukong take a tackle from the starly, while Piplup shot a stream of bubbles at the zubat, who flew out of the way. "-By the way, why did you ignore me back at the lab? Did I...do something wrong?-"

"Oh don't worry, I wasn't ignoring you, nor did you do anything wrong," Dawn smiled and assured the tiny turtle. "It's just that no one else is supposed to know that I can understand you all. I just needed to keep that part a secret."

"-Oh, okay,-" Turtwig sighed in relief. "-So...what do we do now...?-"

"Well since the boys are busy trying to prove their masculinity," Dawn commented, glancing over to Barry and Lucas. "Why don't we look for our own prey?"

Dawn looked around, as Turtwig ventured out into another patch of grass. Not even a moment passed, as a new Pokémon; a quadruped, light blue feline Pokémon resembling a lynx kitten, pooped up, glaring at Turtwig intimidatingly. Turtwig cowered away slightly, while Dawn looked intrigued, scanning the small kitten.

"Shinx, the flash Pokémon," the pokédex read. "The extension and contraction of its muscles generates electricity. It glows when in trouble."

"Interesting, an electric-type," Dawn pursed her lips to form a smile. "You'll do nicely."

The shinx growled as it got ready to fight. Turtwig, despite being intimidated, got ready to fight.

"Tackle!"

Turtwig charged at Shinx, who met the tackle with its own. The two smashed into each other, before falling back. Shinx growled as it got back up, before leering at Turtwig.

"Withdraw."

Turtwig withdrew into his shell, avoiding having to look at the leer. After waiting for Turtwig to get back out, Shinx gave up and resumed attacking Turtwig with a Bite attack, doing its best to gnaw at Turtwig's shell.

"Get out of the shell," Dawn calmly commanded.

On her command, Turtwig shot out of his shell, smashing his head into Shinx, and ripping it off of his shell.

"Now, Absorb."

As Shinx faltered onto the ground, Turtwig shot several red beams from its leaf at Shinx, hitting it with them and proceeding to drain it of its energy and healing himself with said energy.

"That should be good enough," Dawn commented, reaching into her bag and taking out a fresh new pokéball, before proceeding to toss it at the shinx.

The ball hit Shinx, shooting itw own red beam at the feline and absorbing it into the ball, before the sphere landed onto the ground. It shook two times, but then suddenly broke open, freeing Shinx from it.

"Or maybe not," Dawn blinked. She didn't expect that to happen, to be honest.

"-That won't be enough to contain me!-" Shinx growled.

"Well in my defense, Turtwig did manage to do some considerable damage to you," Dawn retorted amused.

"-Wait, can you understand me?-" Shinx asked, tilting its head curiously.

"Whether you believe me or not is up to you, but yes, I can understand you," Dawn replied.

"-Holy–! That's cool!-" Shinx exclaimed excitedly. "-So you can understand what I'm saying right now?!-"

"Uh huh," Dawn smiled.

"-That's so cool!-" Shinx exclaimed.

"-Right?-" Turtwig agreed.

"-You gotta let me join you guys! Please!-" Shinx began begging. "-That would be so cool hanging out with you guys!-"

"Well I did try to capture you, but you did resist," Dawn pointed out.

"-Oh okay then! I won't resist this time!-" Shinx assured her. "-Promise!-"

Giggling, Dawn took out another pokéball and proceeded to hurl it at Shinx, who was much more inviting this time. The ball hit Shinx, repeating the process from before, only this time, the ball containing Shinx shook three times, before flashing slightly, signaling that the capture was successful. Satisfied, Dawn went over to pick up the pokéball, and released Shinx back into the open.

"Looks like you're my first caught Pokémon," Dawn said. "I'm Dawn. And this is Turtwig. Let's get along."

"-Alright!-" Shinx exclaimed excitedly.

"Alright, let's heal up those wounds of yours," Dawn said, taking out a potion her mother packed for her.

* * *

"Wukong, Ember once more!"

"Piplup Bubble!"

Wukong shot another stream of embers at Starly, while Piplup shot another stream of bubbles at Zubat. Starly dove down and struck Chimchar, while Zubat avoided the bubbles and sunk its fangs into the penguin.

"Tch," Lucas clicked his tongue.

"Heh! Not so tough now, huh?!" Barry taunted.

"Like you're one to talk," the boy growled back.

Wukong got back up from Starly's sudden assault, while Piplup managed to smack Zubat away from him.

"-Yo, you alright over there?-" Wukong asked.

"-Hmph, I don't need your sympathy,-" Piplup huffed.

"Wukong, Scratch!"

"Piplup, wait for Zubat to attack, then use Pound!"

Wukong snarled before lunging at Starly, while Piplup eyed Zubat as it circled around him. Starly couldn't avoid it in time as Wukong sunk his claws into the bird, while Zubat decided to lunge at Piplup, who smacked it away with his flippers as it got close.

"Now, Bubble!"

Wukong proceeded to suplex Starly into the ground, while Piplup shot bubbles while Zubat was still down. The bubbles pelted Zubat relentlessly, while Starly was smashed into the ground. The two flying-types fell to the ground, exhausted from the attacks inflicted.

"Alright!" Barry exclaimed, taking out a pokéball. "Now's the chance!"

"Time to throw the pokéball!" Lucas exclaimed, taking out his own pokéball.

The two boys hurled their pokéballs at their respective targets, smacking them with the sphere and sucking them into it via red laser. The two balls hit the ground, where they shook three time,s before flashing and stopping movement.

"And there it is," Lucas huffed.

"Alright!" Barry cried happily, going over to pick up his pokéball. "I caught a starly!"

"Yes, good for you," Lucas rolled his eyes as he went over to pick up his pokéball. _'Can't believe I tied with him.'_

"Yo Dawn, you saw that!? That's how you catch a–," Barry turned to Dawn, but stopped as he saw her petting her shinx that she caught while they were busy catching their own members. "Where did that guy come from?"

"Caught him while you two were busy clashing your own egos," Dawn said matter-of-factly. "By the way, it's already nightfall."

The two boys looked up to see that in fact, night had already fallen, and it was pitch dark outside, the closest light source being Wukong's fire.

"Wow..." Barry mumbled for a moment, before facing Dawn excitedly. "So did you see how I caught that starly?"

"Yes, I saw you catch the starly," Dawn assured her friend. "You did well. You too Lucas."

The grey-haired boy looked up to Dawn, as she began to converse with an excited Barry. She managed to catch the shinx in half the time they took to catch their target. Not to mention the blonde idiot managed to keep up with him in terms of battling and catching the Pokémon, much to Lucas's chagrin.

"You see that, Frenchy!?" Barry boasted. "I'm not just some rookie after all!"

"Yes...it would seem so..." Lucas decided to comply. "...And it's Lucas."

"Heh?" Barry asked.

"My name. Lucas Diamond," Lucas grumbled. "I'd rather you call me that than 'Frenchy' or 'Weird French Dude', or whatever your mind conceived to label me with."

"Huh. Okay then," Barry nodded, before putting his smile back on. "The name's Barry!"

"Yeah, I know," Lucas rolled his eyes. "Although it's pretty dark outside. You two should head back to Sandgem and check into the pokécenter for the night."

"What about you?" Dawn asked.

"I have a home in Sandgem," Lucas replied. "I don't need the pokécenter."

"Alright then," Barry agreed. "Alright, Dawn, let's go!"

Barry recalled Wukong and made his way back to town, with Lucas and Dawn following from behind after they recalled their Pokémon.

"So how was it? Competing with that idiot?" Dawn asked Lucas as they followed him, with her following behind Lucas.

"...He's a lot better than I expected," Lucas admitted begrudgingly.

"But of course," Dawn huffed. "He does know a lot more about being a trainer and whatnot than compared to the average youngster-class trainers you'd find in the starting level."

"Just wish he was a bit more...I don't know, mature," Lucas muttered.

"Is that so? I personally find his immaturity and energy quite appealing," Dawn replied. "Although he could learn to be a bit more mature, yes."

"I guess I should improve myself, if I tied with him," Lucas joked.

"Don't judge a book by its cover, they always say," Dawn said rather whimsically. "You should look into that. Oh and before I go..."

Lucas was about to glance back to Dawn, but stopped jerking his head to her direction. An extreme pressure surged from behind him, seemingly choking the boy. The boy slowly glanced behind, seeing the shadowy spike emerging from the shade between him and Dawn, and her predacious expression accompanied by gleaming platinum eyes and a sadistic, almost bloodthirsty and threatening smile.

"Try and harm Barry in any way, shape, or form, I dare you," Dawn hissed. "You'll be wishing to Arceus you died another way when I'm done with you."

"O-Of course..." Lucas stuttered in fear.

"Just so that we're clear," Dawn smiled as the shadowy spike disintegrated. "Oh and snitching on me will yield the same results, so don't if you still want to live another day."

The slate grey-haired boy waited until Dawn past him and caught up to Barry, and they were both out of sight, before collapsing to his knees, panting heavily.

"What...the fuck...?" Lucas mouthed.

He couldn't even begin to comprehend what just happened. Nothing could make sense that would explain what that dark spike was that hanged behind him, ready to rip his neck from behind. Not to mention the sudden jump in malice he felt from Dawn the moment she threatened him. It was as if she was a completely different person. It terrified him witless. Lucas managed to get back on his feet, before staring at the direction the two new trainers went. Did Barry know about that? And if he does, how does he act so friendly and cheerful around such a vehement force of malice?

If Barry was quite possibly the most infuriating person he had ever met, then Dawn was perhaps the more interesting, and at the same time, the most frightening person he has ever met.

* * *

After healing up their Pokémon, Dawn and Barry retired to the room they rented for the night, with Barry crashing on the bed on the right, while Dawn took the one on the other side of the room.

"Phew, what a day," Barry sighed tiredly. "I'm beat."

"You seemed to have fun though," Dawn said.

"You bet!" Barry grinned. "I already took my first step to become a trainer, and I one-upped that arrogant prick!"

"Do you know his name at least?"

"Yeah, Lucas, right?"

"Good boy."

"Oh yeah that reminds me," Barry said, taking out Starly's pokéball. "I still need to give this guy a nickname."

Barry stared at Starly's pokéball for a period of time, expression deep in thought, until he snapped his fingers.

"Alright! You're now Hawkeye!" Barry declared. "You like that name?"

"Starly's still in the pokéball," Dawn pointed out.

"Hm...You're right," Barry agreed. "Ah well, I'll tell him tomorrow morning."

"Let's hope you remember by then," Dawn jokingly chastised as she covered herself with a blanket.

"I totally will! It's such a cool nickname, I'll totally remember it!" Barry grinned. "Alright, goodnight, Dawn."

"'Night, Barry," Dawn yawned.

Quickly enough, Barry fell asleep, snoring quietly to himself as he dove into a deep slumber. Dawn, on the other hand, glanced at the blonde to make sure that he was sound asleep.

"...Giratina..." Dawn mumbled.

' _You've had quite the day,'_ her imaginary friend replied.

"At least we started off in one piece," Dawn sighed.

' _Verily,'_ Giratina agreed. _'Now then, shall we get to business?'_

"So, what do you want me to do?" Dawn asked.

' _You remember that shard from years ago, right?'_ Giratina asked. _'The one that you took in when you were a child?'_

Dawn grimaced, gripping her hand tightly. Oh she remembered that shard. It 'gifted' her with her powers, and at the same time threw a hideous stigma on her in the form of being known as a 'witch'. It didn't matter if she dealt with the thief or not; everyone who was there save her parents, and everyone who heard the news about it labeled her as a witch.

"...What about it?" Dawn asked bitterly.

' _What if I told you that there was more than one of those?'_

"...What?" Dawn asked flatly, her eyes widening in shock.

' _Did you honestly believe that shard was a 'one of a kind'?'_ Giratina asked.

"Well I would assume so, since no one else ended up becoming a social pariah," Dawn grumbled.

' _Well tough luck, there's more shards like that out there in this region of Sinnoh,'_ Giratina explained. _'Although no one seemed to have either found them, or if they did, they most likely haven't touched them.'_

"How would you know?" Dawn asked suspiciously.

' _Just like I'm connected to you, I'm connected to the other shards,'_ Giratina answered. _'Since none of them have been altered in any way, shape or form, you can still get them.'_

"...So that's it, huh?" Dawn asked. "You want me to collect the other shards."

' _Precisely,'_ Giratina answered. _'I'm merely just your imaginary friend, so there's nothing I can do about it. But you however, Dawn...you can. I want you to collect the remaining shards that are scattered across Sinnoh.'_

"How will this benefit you?" Dawn asked. What would a figment of her imagination do with a physical source of power anyways?

' _Once we get all the shards, you'll see,'_ Giratina assured her. _'Will you do this, Dawn? Will you grant me this one request?'_

"...Is this why you became my friend?" Dawn asked. "So that you can use me like this?"

' _I won't deny that I am using you for this task, since I lack the power and means of doing it myself, obviously,'_ Giratina admitted. _'But I have no one else to turn to. You are my only companion who understands me. Aren't we best friends?'_

Dawn thought about it. Giratina was her friend. He helped her through tough times; made life bearable, in spite of the constant fear and hate that was directed to her. And who's to say that some crazy lunatic wouldn't see the news about her and try to get their own powers by acquiring one of the shards? What would happen if powers similar to hers were given to someone with far more malevolent intents?

...No, she decided. These powers were hers and hers alone. No one, especially no villain or lunatic would have the chance to obtain them for themselves. She would get all the shards for herself and Giratina. If he wanted her to collect them so badly, then that must mean they have some value to him.

Not to mention the possible perks she could obtain by getting more shards. If one shard could bring her reputation to that of a heretic with abilities that couldn't be replicated anywhere else, then what could a second shard bring? Or third? Or fourth?

Why, imagine the possibilities if she got **all** of them. No one would match her. No one would dare call her a 'witch', lest they suffer for it. No one could touch her.

Perhaps...not even Arceus himself.

"...I'll do it," was her answer.

She couldn't see it, but she could imagine Giratina smirking at the answer, whatever his smirk would look like.

' _Thank you, Dawn,'_ Giratina said. _'I promise you, we will obtain our peace once we get all the shards.'_

"If you say so," Dawn said.

' _But now, you should get some rest,'_ Giratina advised. _'Starting tomorrow, we will change our destinies.'_

"But of course," Dawn replied. "Goodnight, Giratina."

' _Goodnight Dawn,'_ Giratina replied, before she could feel the voice disappear into the depths of her conscious.

* * *

 _September 14, 2008_

 _Well, Mom did give me this journal so that I can record what happened at the end of the day, so might as well go through with it._

 _A lot happened really. From getting th_ _e pokédex to officially starting my journey to getting a new Pokémon on my team. Shinx should prove to be pretty strong. Plus, he's pretty cute. Just like Turtwig._

 _I had to leave Mom and Mrs. Pearl behind that backwater town. I still feel bad; really I would've been perfectly fine if she decided to accompany Barry and I on our journey, but that's just my wishful thinking; my own selfishness. I can't sulk about it forever. Perhaps one day, I'll be able to buy a really big house; somewhere far away from Twinleaf. And then I can bring Mom with me and we can live there in peace._

 _Professor Rowan seems to be an understanding person, despite looking pretty intimidating. Perhaps I can trust him. Who knows. Only time can tell._

 _Lucas...seems to be nice enough. I mean he's not the worst being in the world; he wasn't automatically scared at me. Sure he pitied me for having to deal with Barry 24-7, but then again a lot of people would do that if their first impression of the boy was him labeling him as a French person simply because he was wearing a beret. Honestly, I can't tell whether Barry's racist, or just ignorant to what he says. I like to think it's the latter. It pisses off less people. Although I was still kinda ticked off when he kept indirectly putting him down. Barry has his qualities damn it! He's just an idiot is all._

 _...That's not exactly convincing, is it? Idfc I know what I mean._

 _To me, they're both just as bad. Barry's a hotheaded idiot with the maturity of a ten-year-old that you can piss off easily, while Lucas, at least to me right now, is a prick who's prejudice to people and secretly arrogant. Obviously they wouldn't like each other. Oh well, maybe my opinion about him will change with time. Maybe not. Maybe Barry will become a little more mature. Who knows._

 _Apparently there are more than that one shard from that day eight years ago. The fact that more of those actually exist frighten me. What happens if a crazy asylum patient or some megalomaniac gets their hand on one of them? That's something I would rather prevent at all costs. Which brings us to what Giratina wants me to do._

 _He wants me to collect the other shards before anyone else. And apparently by doing so, our wishes would come true. That's something I could get behind. So that's my goal now. To collect the other shards._

 _...What was Giratina's wish? Why did he want to collect the shards? What would he gain out of it? Perhaps he just wanted to become real with the powers of the shards. Or did he have any ulterior motives? He did admit that he would be using me by doing this..._

 _...No, I'll trust him. He was my best friend, if you discounted Barry. He stuck besides her through everything. He was there to talk to me at night, giving me words of encouragement and comfort and reading me bedtime stories, whenever Mom couldn't. We had an unbreakable bond. I'll trust him. Like I always have. And I'll go hunt down the other shards and then we could get our wishes granted._

 _And besides, Giratina's my imaginary friend. It's not like he's actually real._

* * *

 **To be continued**

* * *

 **AN:** Oh Dawn. If only you knew what was inside your head. Well I'm pretty sure that's enough. Dawn and Barry started their journey, they got their first Pokemon, their pokedex, Barry and Lucas don't like each other, and Dawn has a goal in mind; to collect these shards that Giratina's so interested in that's apparently responsible for her powers. Hindsight says you all can probably figure out what the shard is since Gira's involved with it. What happens if she collects them? Well that's for you to find out.

Oh yeah, and to keep track of the team roster of the main trio:

Dawn: Turtwig / Shinx

Barry: Wukong (Chimchar) / Hawkeye (Starly)

Lucas: Piplup / Zubat

And there's that. Hope you enjoyed that, sorry it took me two months, and hopefully the next chapter doesn't take another two months or something, and as always look forward to the next chapter. See ya next time.


	3. Good Thoughts and Bad Memories

**Platinum Witch**

 **Chapter 3: Good Thoughts and Bad Memories**

* * *

 **AN:** Hey there...

Yeah sorry for taking so long, but it's not my fault, I swear. So for those of you who don't follow my other stories, my USB drive, which contained all my chapter files, got corrupted a while ago. I had to reformat it, which meant I lost all my files, including the new chapters, so I had to rewrite them from scratch. Unfortunately, this chapter may not be as long as the other two, or that action-paced as the other two, but hopefully you enjoy it, nonetheless.

And now, to reply to the reviews ever since the last update:

 **Guest (Feb 24):** Thanks! Glad you like it!

 **Tony Anderson:** Thanks, unfortunately I didn't have much luck updating this one faster than I wished...^^'

 **I M Poik:** Idk it could be the Griseous Orb. And yeah, a lot of people apparently likes that part of the chapter. I bet if had to do with the way Barry always kept calling Lucas some form of French.

Yeah...it was only chapter 2, so technically you shouldn't know her entire team. Oh well, it's my fault for making her initial debut all the way back at CoYS, so it's really not your fault, so no worries.

Will I keep Barry's team the same? Well mostly, but I am planning to remove Heracross and Snorlax. And give him something even better (or worse depending on how you see it).

 **Anonymous Trainer:** Yeah a lot of people apparently liked when Barry kept calling Lucas something that involved the word French. It was hilarious, no lie. Well at least Barry's quick to not hold grudges.

 **Ultimateheatblast4:** Fortunately for you and those who are fans of Lucas, this chapter does dwell on more character development. Among other things, but that's a big one too. Also unfortunately while I will acknowledge Kalos, I will most likely not give her Mega Evolution. I just feel it wouldn't fit with the story. Hope you understand.

 **ForeverMistake:** Maybe being evil isn't so bad. Or maybe it is. Who knows?

EDIT: Ah shit I mixed you up with the person above you. Sorry bout that, fixed it now and thanks for pointing it out.

This is what happens when you do this on a rush :P

 **Knight of Wings:** Yeah this is what happens when you look through a chapter after you release it; you find mistakes that you probably should've dealt with but were really tired since it was like 3 am (assuming). Well, even if you don't like gen 4, I'm glad you're giving this story a chance. In regards to the legendary items, I wouldn't dwell on it too much, since the story's only really gonna focus on the source of Dawn's powers, but I do figure that if the items have such power towards legendaries, then certainly they would have some kind of effect on humans as well.

 **zGrimLock:** Yeah sorry it took so long. My USB was ded :(

 **BreadNotDead:** Thanks! Hm, interesting you would compare this Dawn to Platinum from the Adventures series. I guess I can see the similarities. And do expect some more development on the other characters.

Aight, let's get going already.

* * *

 _No one understood me._

 _The adults were afraid of me and the kids picked and bullied me._

 _Everyone treated me like an outcast._

 _Only Mom accepted me, giving me a warm smile and telling me sugarcoated lies to comfort and protect me._

 _The Pearl family still treated me like me, and not like some kind of monster. Barry had apologized, and we became friends again._

 _Gira always talked to me and understood me._

 _But other than that? No one else._

 _Just because I could do things they couldn't._

 _Just because they didn't understand me._

 _Dad...is this why you left me?_

* * *

Dawn opened her eyes, having dozed off lightly at a table. She shook her head, before spotting Turtwig and Shinx eating their meals happily.

"-Hm? Are you alright?-" Turtwig asked Dawn.

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine," Dawn assured her turtle as she looked around, not seeing Barry anywhere. "Where's Barry?"

Turtwig pointed his head to the counter, where Barry had just finished talking to the nurse and returned to Dawn.

"Hey, you're awake!" Barry said.

"Mm," Dawn muttered. "You're all set?"

"Yep, got all the supplies needed and everyone's healed up," Barry said.

"So, where're we headed?" Dawn asked.

Barry nodded, before he rummaged through his bag and took out a Town Map and laid it pon the table.

"Well, we're still in Sandgem," Barry said. "So if we leave soon, then we can make it to Jubilife City before noon, take a lunch break there, and then reach...ah..."

"What's wrong?" Dawn asked as she glanced at the map.

"The next city after Jubilife...is Oreburgh..." Barry muttered.

Dawn stared at the location on the map, her expression not changing in the slightest. In spite of that, however, the name 'Oreburgh' made her mood sour. It brought back bad memories, after all.

"Is there any reason to go there?" Dawn asked.

"W-Well, there's a gym there..." Barry explained somewhat meekly. "And I wanted to challenge it and get the gym badge..."

Dawn didn't respond to Barry and kept staring at Oreburgh, making the blonde trainer more nervous.

"I-I mean we don't have to go there!" Barry made a hasty rebuttal. "There's more gyms out there so we could always go there instead–!"

"It's fine," Dawn replied. "We can go to Oreburgh."

"H-Huh...?" Barry asked.

"There're eight gyms in each region, after all," Dawn said coolly. "Even if we do skip Oreburgh, we'll have to come back here eventually, so might as well get it over with as soon as possible anyways."

"You sure?" Barry asked, still concerned for Dawn.

"Oh please, I'm not that weak of a girl," Dawn scoffed. "I can handle it. What's the gym's type anyways?"

"Huh? Uh...pretty sure it was Rock," Barry answered.

"Then you better get a Grass or Water-type, because I'm pretty sure you won't do so hot with just Wukong and Hawkeye," Dawn teased.

"Right..." Barry muttered, agreeing with her. "Oh! Speaking of which!"

Barry took out his pokéballs and let out Wukong and Hawkeye, his newly caught Starly.

"Alright there," Barry said, getting the starly's attention. "Welcome to the team! From now on, your name is 'Hawkeye'!"

The starly, now christened 'Hawkeye', tilted his head to the side, before nodding, seemingly accepting his new name.

"Alright!" Barry smirked. "That's Wukong. He's your buddy. Play nice, and let's get along!"

"-Hiya!-" Wukong greeted Hawkeye, extending his hand. "-The name's Wukong! Let's get along!-"

Hawkeye glanced at the hand extended to him, then glanced at Wukong, before nodding, extended his own wing and accepted the handshake.

"-Right,-" Hawkeye nodded, replying curtly.

"Alright then," Dawn said, getting up and got Turtwig's and Shinx's attentions. "We might as well go ASAP."

"Alright," Barry nodded. "Ah, what about Frencherton?"

"You mean Lucas?" Dawn asked.

"Yeah, what about Lucas?" Barry asked.

"He's not our responsibility," Dawn dismissed. "I'm sure he can take care of himself."

"If you say so," Barry shrugged as Dawn headed out the door, with Turtwig and Shinx following dutifully.

* * *

"Now, Wing Attack!"

Zubat swooped down upon the kricketune and rammed his wing into it, sending it into a nearby tree. The kricketune got back up and proceeded to lunge for Zubat, but the bat was able to avoid it.

"Leech Life!"

Zubat spun around Kricketune and sunk his fangs into the bug, before proceeding to drain the vitality out of the kricketune. After a few seconds or so, Zubat let go of Kricketune, where the bug fell down fainted.

"There we go," Lucas sighed in relief.

As the boy petted Zubat for a job well done, Lucas took out his pokédex and scrolled through the data available.

"Bidoof...Shinx...Starly...and now Kricketune..." Lucas murmured. "...That should be all the species in Route 202."

Lucas looked at his pokétch.

10:52; Not bad for time. Lucas thought it would take much longer to track down and capture a member of all the available species in this route. But fortunately he was able to find them faster than expected. He was hoping for some rarer finds, like how he found Zubat, but unfortunately he had no such luck. Finding the kricketune was a challenge in itself, since they're pretty rare and only show up either in the morning or at night; never in between.

The boy glanced to his zubat, the bat already warming up to him. Meanwhile he glanced down to Piplup, who was getting irritated due to not getting to battle for the last few wild Pokémon.

"C'mon, you got to fight a lot," Lucas said to the penguin. "And Zubat needed the experience."

"-...I suppose so...-" Piplup grumbled, conceding.

Lucas nodded before moving on ahead of the route, wanting to reach the next town to heal up his Pokémon and stock up on supplies. He checked his wallet, noting the amount of money he had on him.

"42,000 pd (pokédollars)..." Lucas muttered. "I could buy a set of forty, a few super potions...maybe something for Lucia too..."

Lord knows how Lucia would feel lonely all by herself. Well, maybe not 'alone', per say, since Professor Rowan is taking care of her while he's out helping in his research, but still. Might as well get her a souvenir from whatever town he reaches.

As Lucas was about to move on ahead, he heard a commotion from not too far behind.

"Alright, go Hawkeye! Quick Attack!"

He turned around to see two familiar faces, battling each other. It was that blonde idiot, Barry, with the starly, apparently now christened 'Hawkeye', that he caught yesterday, battling Dawn with her shinx. The starly swooped down at a blistering speed at the shinx, but the Electric-type was able to withstand it and bite the starly by its wing.

"Throw him down," Dawn commanded.

Shinx complied, before hurling Hawkeye down to the ground. Hawkeye growled, before getting back up and glaring at Shinx.

"C'mon, you can do it, Hawkeye!" Barry yelled. "Double Team into Quick Attack!"

Hawkeye rose into the air, before moving so fast that he created duplicate illusions of himself. All the duplicates then proceeded to dive bomb to Shinx.

"Spark," Dawn commanded calmly.

Shinx growled as he discharged electricity around him, shielding him from the multiple Hawkeye clones and dispelling them one by one, until the real Hawkeye got electrocuted. The bird went down, obviously unable to withstand the Electric-type attack.

"NOOO! HAWKEYE!" Barry cried out.

"Nice job, Shinx," Dawn smiled, kneeling down to pet the lynx kitten on the head.

Now watching Dawn battle, she wasn't half bad. Not saying that the idiot wasn't bad, yesterday's competition was proof enough that he was at least competent, but he never saw Dawn battle, so this was a good demonstration to her own battling skills, which weren't half bad.

"Nice to see that you two are already up to pace with your newly caught members," Lucas commented as he approached them.

"Huh?" Barry asked, picking up Hawkeye and glanced up to see Lucas. "Oh hey Luigi!"

Well at least he didn't call him by some derogative French name. That's an improvement.

"Lucas," the beret-wearing boy corrected.

"Right, sorry," the blonde muttered sheepishly.

"What're you two doing out here, anyways?" Lucas asked.

"We're headed for Jubilife," Dawn explained. "And might as well train up our new members here."

"Sounds about right," Lucas mumbled. "Well, since we're all headed to Jubilife, wanna go together as a group?"

"Sounds fair," Dawn said. "C'mon Barry, let's go."

The duo got their things together, before following Lucas out of Route 202.

"So how's the first day out on the journey?" Lucas decided to ask.

"Not too bad, I suppose," Dawn shrugged.

"Easy for you to say, you knocked out Hawkeye!" Barry yelled. "How is he supposed to get better if you keep beating him up!?"

"Then get better," Dawn teased.

As the blonde argued with his smirking friend, Lucas glanced at the duo from where he was leading them to the city. The boy looked somewhat skeptical and nervous, the memory of his last interaction with her still fresh in his mind.

" _Try and harm Barry in any way, shape, or form, I dare you," Dawn hissed. "You'll be wishing to Arceus you died another way when I'm done with you."_

" _O-Of course..." Lucas stuttered in fear._

" _Just so that we're clear," Dawn smiled as the shadowy spike disintegrated. "Oh and snitching on me will yield the same results, so don't if you still want to live another day."_

Nothing made sense that night. What with that _thing_ that she somehow conjured up to threaten him with, and her sudden jump in malice when she threatened him, how she did it, he didn't understand, even now.

But now, seeing her casually deal with her noisy friend, and how she treated her Pokémon rather nicely (if how Shinx was happily snuggling in her grasp was any indication), it was much harder to believe that the Dawn now and the Dawn from last night were the same people.

But then again, perhaps she was just that good at faking. Maybe that was why Barry wasn't afraid of her.

* * *

 _3 days ever since the successful infiltration the Sinnoh Region. Still no signs of the target._

 _I have found myself wandering the streets of this city called 'Jubilife' after reaching this region from the Canalave Harbor. The city seems to be a fairly peaceful city, but that shouldn't mean I should let my guard down! There could be some rather gruesome crimes hidden within these streets of Jubilife. Perhaps I should investigate this city for any underground crimes._

 _...No, I need to focus on the task at hand. The bureau has tasked me with investigation of this region for one purpose: to investigate the rumored potential terrorist cell masquerading as an energy research and development company; 'Galactic Energy Company'._

 _While this energy company has up to this point not shown any signs to raise eyebrows on the surface, reports suggest that the company may or may not be involved with illegal transactions, such as black market dealing, illegal experimentation, theft of Pokémon, and among others. There wasn't even any confirmation on anything about the energy they were researching on; as far as the reports are considered, this so-called energy doesn't even exist._

 _And thus, the International Police has assigned me to investigate on this matter. To find the truth behind this 'Galactic Energy Company'._

 _So even in these calm streets of Jubilife, I must find the truth behind this company._

 _As an agent of the Pokémon International Police, I must complete this mission–!_

 _Wait, what are these children doing staring at me?_

* * *

"Uh...are you alright, sir?" Lucas asked, having watched as the strange man with black hair in the trench coat having dashed from street lamp to street lamp.

"Ah–yes," the man stammered. "I was uh...hm...Exploring the city, as you would say. I am new here. I am in no way suspicious at all."

"Uh huh..." Dawn said skeptically. Neither of them seemed to believe Trench-coat man. He just screamed suspicious.

Barry, on the other hand, predictably bought the charade.

"Hey, then why don't we show you around?" Barry asked.

"Barry, we haven't even been here in how long, exactly?" Dawn retorted. "How is bringing along a total stranger on a tour of a city we aren't even too sure about a good idea?"

"Hey it was being nice," Barry muttered.

"I'm flattered, but I shouldn't give you three any trouble," the man insisted.

"You sure?" Barry asked, before glancing at his attire. "Hey you look pretty cool though. Are you an undercover cop or something?"

* * *

 _WHAAAAAT?! HOW!? HOW DID THIS BOY FIGURE MY IDENTITY SO QUICKLY!?_

 _IS HE SOME KIND OF CUNNING GENIUS?!_

* * *

"Barry, don't ask stupid questions," Dawn chided her childhood friend. "Look, you made the poor man freeze up from your question."

The man did in fact freeze after Barry asked his question, staring at the blonde as if he just grew a second head.

"Uh...sir?" Barry asked.

"How did you know!?" he suddenly yelled. "How did you unmask me as a member of the International Police?!"

"...You can't be serious right now," Dawn muttered.

"So you are a cop?!" Barry asked excitedly, happy that his random guess was somehow right.

"...We were just making small talk," Lucas said somewhat cautiously.

"...Heh, you only claim you were only making conversation, do you?" the man asked, now smirking as he pointed to Barry. "But, I know better not to believe that. No, no, no. You recognized right away that I was someone extraordinary. That is why you spoke to me, is it not? Your power of observation is fearsome! Quite admirable, you are!"

"Really?" Barry asked. _'All I thought was that he had a cool trench coat so that's what I went with. Man, Dawn must think I'm smart now!'_

"Uh huh..." Dawn muttered, eyes narrowed. _'Oh God, Barry must think he's so smart now...'_

"So...who are you then?" Lucas asked.

"Well, now that my cover has been blown, let me introduce myself," the man said. 'I am a globe-trotting elite of the International Police. My name...Ah, no. I shall inform you only of my code name.

"My code name...it is Looker. It is what they call me."

"'Looker'?" Lucas asked.

"Cool..." Barry said, somewhat mesmerized.

"Incidentally, is the saying, 'Don't be a thief familiar to you?'" Looker asked.

"No, not really," Barry said.

"What?!" Looker gasped. "You claim to not know it? How could that be? Perhaps your mama has said it, but you have forgotten it?"

Lucas's expression darkened a bit when the police officer asked that.

"...Sure, probably," Dawn answered, noticing Lucas's change in expression.

"It is no problem," Looker chuckled, oblivious to Lucas's darkened expression. "Now listen, my friends. It is wrong to take what belongs to others."

"While that's painfully obvious," Barry interjected. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Yes, while this may be an obvious thing, unfortunately, there are apparently those who do not heed those words," Looker explained. "In Sinnoh, in fact, there are criminals stealing the Pokémon of others and among other heinous crimes that cannot be overlooked."

Even if he didn't have the proof right now, he was sure that was the case; the criminals are experts at hiding their crimes.

"I have, therefore, been on the lookout for characters arousing my suspicion," Looker said.

"OOH! OOH! Can we help?" Barry asked.

"Barry..." Dawn grumbled, not wanting to get involved with the suspicious character in front of them.

"Ah yes, that would be very helpful, actually," Looker agreed. "You three are trainers, yes? Then please, accept these."

Looker rummaged through his coat and revealed three sleek blue devices, before handing them to the trio.

"These are called 'Vs. Recorders'," Looker explained. "They are nifty devices for recording matches. If you do happen to run into these suspicious criminals, then I would like it if you three could record the matches with these and send them to me. It would be most appreciated."

Dawn examined the device that was given to her. They were basically glorified camcorders. Perhaps this could be useful to her in other ways.

"Sure, why not," Dawn agreed.

"You can count on us!" Barry smirked.

"...Sure," Lucas muttered.

"Excellent!" Looker smiled. "My contact number is already pre-installed in them, so you can use these to send the videos over to me. Now, I must be off! Stay safe and be careful, my friends! And you must inform me of any happenings!"

And with that, Looker rushed off into the city of Jubilife, leaving the trio out in the streets next to the pokécenter.

"...That guy was cool," Barry said.

"He was fucking weird," Dawn chided. "Now then, might as well rest up at the pokécenter."

Agreeing with the girl, the boys followed her into the pokécenter, where they went in and let the nurse heal up their Pokémon. While the nurse was busy healing the Pokémon, Lucas went over to the PC, before dialing a few numbers into it and picking up the provided phone.

"Who're you calling?" Barry asked.

"Mm, just my little sister," Lucas replied.

"Little sister...?" Dawn asked.

Before Lucas could reply, a small girl with slate grey hair appeared on the screen.

" _Hello?"_ the girl asked.

"Hi, Lucia," Lucas smiled.

" _Ah, Big Brother!"_ the girl, Lucia, replied happily.

"How's everything over there?" Lucas asked.

" _Mh, everything's fine,"_ Lucia said. _"Professor Rowan's making lunch right now. How's the journey going?"_

"Everything's alright out here so far," Lucas replied.

"Oh? So that's your little sister?" Dawn asked as she and Barry peaked over Lucas's shoulders.

" _Are those two the new dex-holders you told me about yesterday?"_ Lucia asked.

"Ah, right," Lucas said, before making room for Dawn and Barry. "You two, this is my little sister, Lucia. Lucia, they're Dawn and Barry."

"Hey there!" Barry greeted.

"Hello," Dawn said.

" _Hello,"_ Lucia replied. _"So you two are the new trainers assigned by Professor Rowan to help out my brother?"_

"Well, yes, I guess," Dawn muttered.

" _Hmm..."_ Lucia murmured, staring at the two, before smiling meekly. _"...Please do take care of Big Brother. He tends to overwork himself if no one's there to stop him."_

Dawn looked genuinely surprised, before smiling at the adorable small girl.

"Don't worry," Dawn assured her. "He's in good hands."

" _Oh, okay,"_ Lucia replied, somewhat relieved. _"Alright then. Be careful Big Brother!"_

The call was cut off, where Lucas put the phone back where it was.

"She seemed nice," Barry commented.

"Yeah," Lucas chuckled. "Now then, where're you two headed for now?"

"Well, we were headed for Oreburgh to challenge the gym," Dawn explained.

"Wait, are you gonna challenge the gym too?" Barry asked.

"Might as well," Dawn shrugged. "Although you should consider adding a new member."

"Huh? What's wrong with Wukong and Hawkeye?" Barry asked.

"What?" Lucas asked.

"Chimchar and Starly," Dawn told Lucas, before shifting her focus back to Barry. "Last time I recall, Oreburgh was a mining city. So tell me, what type is mostly associated with mines?"

"Rock-types?" Barry asked, before realizing what Dawn was eluding at. "Oooh..."

"I highly doubt you'll go far with a Fire-type and a Flying-type," Dawn said. "At least catch something to deal with Rock-types."

"Well, there's always Route 204," Lucas said. "You can find psyducks and budews there. While they might not be the best answers to Rock-types, it's something."

"Budews...Ooh! A Grass-type sounds nice!" Barry exclaimed. "Where's Route 204?"

"It's up north from here," Lucas explained. "You could also train there while you're at it."

"Alright! Let's go!" Barry exclaimed excitedly as he rushed out of the pokécenter.

"Son of a..." Dawn grumbled. "Get back here!"

Dawn rushed out of the pokécenter and followed Barry, leaving Lucas by himself. The boy sighed, before following the girl, having nothing else better to do.

* * *

"Alright Hawkeye, Wing Attack!" Barry exclaimed.

It hadn't taken too long for Barry to make his way to Route 204, considering how fast the boy runs when he's motivated. By the time Dawn and Lucas caught up to the blonde, he had already ran into a wild budew and was in the middle of battling it with Hawkeye.

"Well that was quick," Dawn said as she stood to the side.

"You aren't gonna look for anything for your team?" Lucas asked.

Dawn glanced around; she spotted a few starlies, kricketots, and some shinx. All Pokémon she had already seen; it'd be redundant for her to get a Pokémon that Barry already got, kricketot looked boring to her, and she already has Shinx.

"Mm, nothing interests me here," Dawn shrugged.

"If you say so," Lucas shrugged.

The two watched as the budew hastily side-stepped out of the way of Hawkeye's attack, before it opened its two vines up and released a yellow powder at the bird, paralyzing him.

"Agh! Hawkeye!" Barry yelled as the bird struggled to remain airborne. "Get back!"

Hawkeye reluctantly nodded, before returning to Barry as he switched him out for Wukong and commanding him to attack the budew. Dawn and Lucas were content with watching the boy try to capture the budew.

"...Your sister said Professor Rowan was making lunch," Dawn said to Lucas, making the boy stiffen. "...What about your parents?"

"...Hehe, you're pretty sharp," Lucas chuckled somewhat emptily. "...My parents...they're dead. Died from a car accident when I was young. Lucia was barely two years old."

Dawn looked shocked from that revelation. Lucas simply looked sheepish.

"Ever since then, Professor Rowan took us in and raised us as a surrogate father of sorts," Lucas said. "I'm actually participating in completing the pokédex as an internship or sorts, so that I can get an actual job to support Lucia, so we don't have to keep relying on Rowan.

"While he may not have been the 'best' per say, and had to leave for Kanto for a research trip, we still love him and are grateful for him taking care of us in our time of need."

"...I...Sorry..." Dawn muttered. "I shouldn't have pried at something that sensitive."

"Huh? No, it's no problem, it's not your fault," Lucas assured her. "It wouldn't do anyone any good if I brooded about it up to now. But how about you and Barry? What about your parents?"

Dawn glanced at Lucas with a curious eye, before glancing back to Barry, who was still in the middle of battling Budew.

"Barry's mother is a former professional chef," Dawn decided to dwell. "And his father's a veteran trainer, who's currently traveling the region."

"So his dad left the family?" Lucas asked incredulously.

"Not exactly," Dawn said. "He still calls the family and transfers any money he earns on his trip to them to support the family. Barry's Mom's still pissed that he just left for a journey though..."

"And what about you?" Lucas asked.

"...My mother's a retired top coordinator," Dawn said.

"Uh huh, and what about your father?"

"...I don't know."

"Huh?"

"He left the family when I was young. And unlike Barry's Dad, we never heard from him ever since."

"Oh..."

Lucas scratched his head nervously. Now this time he ended up prying into a rather sensitive topic to the girl.

"It's alright," Dawn sighed, noticing Lucas's nervous expression. "He ran out when I was like six. It's a long time ago. I couldn't care any less of what happened to him since."

"I see..." Lucas mumbled.

Just as they finished their conversation, Barry let out a cheer as he rushed over to pick up a pokéball.

"Yeah! I caught Budew!" Barry announced to the world, before rushing over to Dawn and Lucas. "Did you see, Dawn?"

"Yes, I saw," Dawn reassured Barry, giving him a genuine smile. "Nice job."

Lucas watched Dawn as she watched Barry release his newly caught budew out into the open, interacting with the rose pod.

"Hiya!" Barry said to the budew. "My name's Barry. You're a part of my team now. Let's get along, and let's be the very best we can!"

"-Uh...okay...-" Budew nodded shyly.

"Hmm...We need to give you a nickname..." Barry mumbled, thinking hard as to what to call Budew. "...Ooh! How about 'Chloris'?"

"-'Chloris'?-" Budew asked, tilting her body to the side.

"You're a girl, right?" Barry asked, where Budew nodded in response.

"Well, Chloris is the name of a nymph who's associated with flowers, namely roses," Barry said. "So I figured that would work, since you'll evolve into a roserade eventually. So, what do you think? You like it?"

"-'Chloris'...-" Budew mouthed, before smiling and nodding. "-It sounds pretty.-"

"Alright!" Barry smirked. "Your name's now Chloris! Oh that reminds me."

Barry also released Wukong and Hawkeye to allow them to meet their new teammate. Wukong landed to the ground, while Hawkeye fell face-first, still paralyzed from his battle.

"-Ugh...-" Hawkeye muttered.

"Hang on," Barry told the bird as he took out a paralyze heal and sprayed it at the bird.

"-Uh...S-Sorry...-" Budew, now Chloris, meekly apologized.

"-Ugh...It's alright," Hawkeye grumbled as he stretched out his wings.

"-Anywho!-" Wukong smiled. "-I'm Wukong! And grumpy over there is Hawkeye!-"

"-Oh put a sock in it,-" Hawkeye growled at Wukong.

"-Oh uh...I'm Chloris,-" she introduced herself. "-Nice to meet you.-"

"Alright, now that that's settled," Barry said. "Let's train up here, and then head for Oreburgh. Is that cool with you Dawn?"

"Sure, why not," she shrugged as she let Turtwig and Shinx out into the open. "Alright you two, go beat up Barry's Pokémon."

"-Okay,-" Turtwig and Shinx replied as they faced Barry's team.

"Wait, what?" Barry asked as Turtwig and Shinx lunged at Hawkeye and Wukong.

As Dawn's Pokémon engaged Barry's Pokémon into battle, Lucas noticed how genuinely happier Dawn looked. She seemed to be enjoying herself as her Pokémon battled his Pokémon. It was a stark contrast to her usual aloof upfront or when she threatened him.

Eventually they all fell down, tired from the mindless and intense training.

"-Ow, my everything...-" Wukong moaned.

"-You hit too hard...-" Turtwig groaned.

"Alright, let's head back to the pokécenter," Dawn decided. "You all deserve a good rest."

The two trainers recalled their Pokémon, before getting their belongings ready.

"So what are you gonna do now?" Dawn asked Lucas.

"Hm? Oh I'll stay behind here to search through the route some more," Lucas said. "You two go on ahead."

"Hm, if you say so," Dawn shrugged. "Don't push yourself. You'll make your sister worry."

"Haha, yeah, yeah," Lucas chuckled.

Belaying their farewells, Dawn and Barry headed back to Jubilife, as Lucas saw them off, before heading into the route to survey the wildlife there.

Lucas couldn't get a grasp of Dawn's true motives and personality. On one hand she's mysterious, cold, and you couldn't guess what she was thinking. On another hand she was perhaps the most dangerous girl he'd ever met with a power that's far beyond the human understanding. But regardless, she does have her soft side, and she's not as intimidating as she presented herself as at first.

' _There's more to her than I first thought,'_ Lucas mused to himself as he released Piplup and Zubat to help him explore the route. _'She really is an interesting girl.'_

* * *

"Hm, shouldn't be too much longer," Barry said as he checked his Town Map once more.

Barry looked up from his map as Chloris shot another Absorb attack at an incoming geodude, promptly taking it out. The blonde smiled at his new Pokémon; he only caught Chloris just a few hours ago, yet she's already catching up to Wukong and Hawkeye. The Grass-type smiled proudly to herself as she defeated another wild Pokémon.

"Nice job, Chloris," Barry complimented her, where she blushed happily in response. "We should reach Orebugh in a few minutes, Dawn!"

Dawn nodded as she checked the time on her newly-obtained Pokémon Watch, aka Pokétch. She counted her and Barry lucky to have stumbled upon and participated in an ongoing campaign that was being held by the Pokétch Company. The task was to answer three braindead-easy questions, and collect the promotional coupons, before presenting them to the president and accepting the prize.

"Right," Dawn muttered. "C'mon then, let's go."

Turtwig glanced up to his trainer, noticing her expression. It was much colder than usual. Sure she was pretty neutral most of the time, but it was much more noticeable here.

"-Are you okay?-" Turtwig asked. "-You don't look happy.-"

"Hm?" Dawn asked, noticing Turtwig's worried expression. "Oh it's nothing. Don't worry."

"-Is it because of this Oreburgh place we're going to?-" Turtwig asked cautiously.

"...You're pretty sharp," Dawn replied to Turtwig.

"-Sorry...-" Turtwig glumly said.

"Why are you apologizing? You did nothing wrong," Dawn reassured her starter. "It's just...this place brings back some...rather bad...memories..."

Turtwig looked up to Dawn, glad that he didn't do anything to upset her, but curious as to what she meant by bad memories. Did she come here before? If so, what exactly happened there that would give someone like Dawn bad memories?

"C'mon, let's go," Dawn told Turtwig. "The exit's just up ahead."

Turtwig snapped out of his thoughts, before noticing a light at the end of the cave. Nodding, he followed Dawn as she and Barry headed towards the light. Emerging out of the cave, the group found themselves at a large, rather dusty mining city of sorts.

"Welp, here we are," Barry said somewhat uneasily, glancing towards Dawn.

"Oreburgh..." Dawn muttered, her gaze hardening at the sight of the city. "...Well? Aren't we going to go challenge the gym leader?"

"R-Righ–wait, we?" Barry asked.

"I never said you alone were challenging the gyms," Dawn rolled her eyes. "They're here, so might as well challenge them myself."

"Well when you put it like that..." Barry said. "Alright then. C'mon, let's go rest up at the pokécenter and then head for the gym!"

Barry excitedly rushed on ahead, eager to challenge his first gym.

"Typical," Dawn sighed, but couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm before proceeding to follow him. "–ugh?!"

Dawn stopped in her tracks, feeling a sharp pain course through her. She held her gut in pain; feeling like she was going to vomit.

"Wha...?" Dawn gagged silently.

' _It's here.'_

From amidst the sharp pain that was invading her body, Giratina's voice rang through her head.

"What's here...?" Dawn painstakingly demanded.

' _A shard,'_ Giratina explained. _'One is in this area.'_

"Seriously?" Dawn asked. Another shard? Already? "Where?"

' _It's somewhere in this city,'_ Giratina said. _'I can't pinpoint exactly where, but its presence is more close to north east from here.'_

Dawn looked up to the city, before glancing towards northeast like what Giratina said. From the outskirts, she could see some cranes and bulldozers in front of an entrance.

"The mine...?" Dawn asked.

' _Perhaps,'_ Giratina answered. _'If we could investigate that area, then I can be certain of its location.'_

"...Fine," Dawn muttered.

"Dawn?"

The blunette looked up to Barry, a look of concern obvious on his face.

"I'm fine..." Dawn muttered. "C'mon, let's go."

Barry kept his skeptical yet concerned gaze at Dawn, but relented regardless as the two headed for the city's pokécenter. As they approached the pokécenter, the pain grew stronger, forcing Dawn to clutch her head in an attempt to endure the pain.

"We should get a nurse to look at you," Barry suggested. "You seem to be in a lot of pain."

"I-I'm fine," Dawn asserted herself. "Now c'mon."

As the duo went to have their Pokémon healed, Dawn contemplated on what to do now with knowledge that a shard was in the city.

' _Are you sure it's in the mine now?'_ Dawn asked Giratina mentally.

' _The presence became stronger when we approached the pokécenter,'_ Giratina replied. _'I'm sure now. It has to be in the mine.'_

' _Great...'_ Dawn grumbled.

' _Good luck,'_ Giratina snickered as he decided to leave Dawn's consciousness for the time being.

' _Yeah, fuck you too, Gira,'_ Dawn mentally cursed at her imaginary friend.

"There you go," the nurse informed them. "Your Pokémon are all better now."

Dawn snapped out of her mental conversation with Giratina to see that her party was healed up.

"Thank you," the duo said as they accepted their Pokémon.

"Uh, can I get an aspirin for my friend here?" Barry asked the nurse. "She's suffering from a major migraine."

"Of course," the nurse said understandingly, before producing an aspirin from the counter and handing it to the girl. "Here you go."

"Thanks..." Dawn mumbled.

"Alright now, stay safe out there you two," the nurse smiled.

The two nodded in response as they left the pokécenter, before heading for the Oreburgh Gym.

"Alright, now time to challenge the gym and get my first gym badge!" Barry declared, excited for the gym battle to come.

"You know what you're doing?" Dawn asked. "Don't expect an easy win just because you have a Grass-type."

"Don't worry!" Barry smirked. "I know what I'm doing!"

"If you say so..." Dawn muttered. _'Although I need to find a reason to go to the mine and find that shard. Now how am I supposed to do that...? I can't just ditch Barry...'_

"Wait–huh?" Barry asked, snapping her out of her train of thought. "Whaddaya mean the gym leader's not here?!"

"Sorry kid," a man with glasses said apologetically. "But Roark is out at the mines right now. Apparently something's going on there and Roark was asked to investigate it."

' _Well, how convenient,'_ Dawn thought.

"If you want, you can go visit him at the mines and see if you can get him back into the gym," the man offered. "But be careful. The mines are pretty dangerous."

"Will do," Dawn said as she ushered Barry away from the man.

"Huh? You wanna go to the mines?" Barry asked as they left the gym.

"I mean the gym leader's there," Dawn reasoned. "Might as well see what's up."

"Right," Barry agreed. "Oh that's right. Did you take your aspirin? Is your migraine still there?"

"Oh, that, it wore off," Dawn said. "No need to worry."

"You sure?" Barry asked, concerned. "You still look like you're in pain."

Truth be told, Dawn was sweating, doing her best to endure the pain in her head. It was quite clear that the migraine hadn't worn off like she said.

"It's fine," Dawn reassured him. "Don't worry. C'mon, let's just go to the mines."

Still skeptical, he still let Dawn lead the two of them to the mines, which wasn't too far from the gym and the pokécenter. There were several construction workers gathered at the front.

"Huh, I guess that guy was right," Barry said.

"Yeah..." Dawn muttered. _'What if it's the shard...?'_

As Dawn stepped forward, her eyes widened, clutching herself as the pain grew even more.

"Ggh..." Dawn hissed in pain.

"Dawn? Dawn!?" Barry cried out in worry.

"I'm...fine..." Dawn grumbled.

"No you're not," Barry argued. "You're clearly still in pain. C'mon, take the aspirin."

Barry rummaged through Dawn's pocket and took out the aspirin.

"C'mon," Barry urged her.

Dawn glanced up to Barry, before begrudgingly taking the aspirin and dry swallowing it. Barry quickly took a water bottle out from his bag and gave it to Dawn.

"There," Barry said as he watched her chug down the bottle. "Better...?"

"...Yeah...actually," Dawn admitted. The aspirin did mitigate the pain somewhat.

"Thank god," Barry sighed in relief, as he took a good look at her, where his expression contorted in surprise. "Wha–Dawn, your eyes...!"

"What?" Dawn asked, before Barry quickly brought her to a glass window of one of the nearby cranes. To her shock, the sclera of her eyes were pitch black and her irises were glowing more brightly.

"Wha...?" Dawn asked.

' _It's close,'_ Giratina suddenly informed her mentally. _'The shard in your body is reacting strongly to it. Your eyes are proof enough.'_

"Oh great..." Dawn hissed.

"Dawn...?" Barry asked in concern.

"Barry...listen carefully..." Dawn muttered, her tone having no room for argument. "There's something in that mine that I need to get. Or else this migraine, along with my powers starting to lose control, won't stop. You'll help me, right?"

"Yeah, of course!" Barry instantly agreed.

"Good, thanks," Dawn said. "Now, we need to get into the mines. It's probably in there."

"R-Right..." Barry nodded.

"Also...make sure no one sees me..." Dawn said, glancing at all the construction workers busy doing their own jobs. _'They're all old enough to have possibly been here at least eight years ago...'_

"Gotcha," Barry said. "C'mon."

Nodding, Barry helped Dawn up as the two cautiously made their way into the mines inconspicuously; Dawn making sure to not make eye contact with anyone. The interior of the mine was, predictably, dark; with wild geodudes roaming around peacefully and the occasional onix slithering through the several tunnels of the mine.

"Where?" Barry asked Dawn as she managed to stand up.

"Deeper..." Dawn muttered, pointing to an opening down the stairs.

The two traversed deeper into the mines, following the conveyer belt-like platforms that were trailing throughout the mines. As they ventured deeper into the mines, they noticed a large crowd gathered around the end.

"What's going on over there?" Barry asked to no one in particular.

"...Oh don't tell me..." Dawn grumbled as they approached the crowd.

"Uh, excuse me...?" Barry asked one of the miners. "What's going on here?"

"Oh, Commissioner Roark discovered something within the mines," one of the workers informed them. "We're here to investigate and check out what it is."

' _I swear to God if it's the shard...'_ Dawn internally growled.

"You alright, Roark?" another worker asked in concern.

"Yep! Just hang on...!"

The two glanced besides the crowd to take a closer look. In the middle of the crowd was a tall, lean man with short red hair wearing a miner outfit, and wearing a red helmet and glasses, examining a hole in the wall. Carefully, the man slowly extracted a brilliant, amber-colored shard, which gleamed magnificently.

Dawn was struggling to keep the malevolent power within her from bursting with the sight of the other shard.

"Dawn...?" Barry whispered in concern.

"Hey kid, you alright?" the worker that was with them asked.

"Oh goddamn it..." Dawn grumbled.

"This is...!" the other man gasped.

"What's wrong, Roark?" one of the workers asked.

"Ah–No, it's nothing," Roark said. "For now, let's just bring this back to examine it..."

"You sure?" another worker asked skeptically. "It just looks like a normal revive shard to me..."

"Ah, yeah..." Roark said. "I'll just bring it back to examine it to see if it really is anything important."

"Well, you're the boss," the worker shrugged. "Is that everything?"

"Yeah, there's mothing else here," Roark said. "Alright everyone, let's head back."

"Aye!"

As the group began to head back up, Roark noticed Dawn and Barry.

"Huh? Can I help you two?" Roark asked as he approached them.

As Roark approached them with the shard in his hand, Dawn cringed in pain, glaring at the redhead. Roark glanced at Dawn curiously, before his eyes widened slightly.

"Wait...you...!" Roark breathed.

"Ah–Uh well actually we just wanted to know if you would be heading back to the gym," Barry quickly replied. "But we don't want to get in your way, so we'll just go now!"

Roark raised an eyebrow in confusion as Barry hastily grabbed Dawn's arm and tried to escape, but Roark stopped them by grabbing Dawn's other arm to stop them.

"Ah..." Barry muttered, glancing back to Roark.

Roark glared at Dawn, who glared back at him. Roark then proceeded to bring the shard in his gloved hand right in front of her face, which increased the pain she was experiencing tremendously.

"So you are from that time..." Roark muttered.

"Get the hell away from me...!" Dawn snarled as two shadowy spikes shot out from underneath her shadow and shot out to him.

"Dawn no–!" Barry cried out.

Roark quickly stepped back and put the shard up in front of him, where the shadowy spikes suddenly stopped right in front of the shard.

"Looks like you find this too important to destroy," Roark commented.

Dawn growled at Roark, while the pain lessened as the shard was moved away from her.

"You're that girl from eight years ago," Roark accused.

"Tch..." Dawn clicked her tongue in annoyance.

The redhead stared at the witch without any fear in spite of the murderous glare she was giving him, before sighing and backing off. Roark went to his belongings and took out a glass case, where he put the shard in it. To her surprise, the pain lessened even further, allowing her to keep a stable breathing, but the pain was still there.

"...So it would appear that any insulation like this weakens the connection between you and the shard," Roark noted, before glancing at the confused Barry and the enraged Dawn. "...Let's go talk somewhere in private. I'd assume you'd prefer that."

Dawn kept the leer on Roark as he led the two out of the mines.

* * *

Eventually the miner had led the two into the Oreburgh Museum. Upon witnessing the facility, Dawn had a sour expression on her face.

"It must've been a while since you've last came here," Roark said somewhat sympathetically to Dawn.

Dawn merely scowled at him as they entered the museum, before Roark brought them into the back and into Roark's office. The two kids walked into the office as Roark closed the door behind them, and placing the case on his desk.

"So, judging from how your friend isn't all too surprised by all of this," Roark said, noting Barry. "I'm gonna assume that he knows?"

Barry nodded in response.

"Hm," Roark said. "It was eight years ago..."

Dawn glowered as she subconsciously recalled the events that happened at the Oreburgh Museum eight years ago.

The event that made her into who she was now.

* * *

 _A young six-year-old Dawn gazed around her with curious, slate-grey eyes. Her parents had decided to visit the Oreburgh Museum after hearing of news of a new exhibit. She eyed all the artifacts and exhibits with interest._

" _Mommy, Daddy, what's that thing?" Dawn asked as she pointed to a large skeleton of a large dinosaur._

" _That's a skeleton model, sweetie," Johanna told Dawn._

" _Hm, I do believe it's a rampardos," Dawn's father commented, noting the skeleton's abnormally large cranium. "Rampardos were known for their powerful headbutt attacks, which could break even diamonds with ease."_

" _Wow..." Dawn stared at the rampardos skeleton with awe, before smiling. "That's so cool!"_

 _The girl looked around, seeing what other cool exhibits the museum had to offer. Eventually, her eyes led her to a glass case, which was housing a brilliant, amber shard._

" _What's that?" Dawn asked._

" _That's the new exhibit," Johanna answered. "But...what is it indeed..."_

 _Dawn and her parents walked over to the new exhibit. Dawn stared at the shard intriguingly, seemingly mesmerized by it._

" _It's pretty..." Dawn said dreamily._

" _Yes, it is rather impressive," her father agreed as he glanced at the sign. "Hm, a 'strange fragment with no conclusive origin'...well that's an odd thing to put. They don't know what it is?"_

 _Dawn didn't exactly hear her father's words; she was too mesmerized by the shard. It was just so pretty to her. She wished she could just reach out and hold it; to see how it felt._

 _Which was why she didn't even see the man next to her smash the case with his fist and grabbing the shard, before grabbing her and taking out a gun before it was too late._

" _DAWN!" Johanna screamed._

" _Huh? Mommy?!" Dawn began to panic, before the man squeezed her in his grip._

" _Alright, nobody move!" the man yelled, before pointing the gun at Dawn's head. "Or the brat gets it!"_

 _Johanna was about to hysterically run to try and save Dawn, but her father grabbed her to stop that._

" _No!" her father whispered. "If we make any sudden moves, then Dawn..."_

" _I-I know...but–!" Johanna cried._

" _Alright, no funny business," the man threatened as he backed away with the shard and Dawn to the entrance._

 _As he approached the entrance, several sirens could be heard from outside._

" _Damn it, already?!" the man swore as he glanced out through the door._

"This is the police! Come out with your hands up!" _a police officer's voice could be heard from the outside._

" _Fuck you! You want the kid to die!?" the man yelled out as he opened the door and showed the several police officers his hostage._

 _While the man was yelling angrily at the police officers, Dawn was scared out of her mind. A gun was pointed to her head. She was separated from her mommy and daddy. And the man who was keeping her captive looked very angry and mean. She wanted to cry for her parents, but was afraid that would provoke the man to end her life._

 _And yet she found herself glancing to the shard in the man's hand. Even in spite of this peril, it glowed adamantly. She should be worried more about her own life than the shard, but it somehow brought her attention away from all the chaos._

 _It looked like it was beckoning for her. As if it wanted her to free it from this man's grasp._

 _Deciding to do so in spite of the situation, Dawn quietly reached out to the shard in the man's grasp. The moment she touched the shard, the shard began to glow brighter._

" _Wha–OW?!" the man blurted, letting go of the shard and Dawn when it suddenly felt like it burned him._

 _The shard seemingly floated in Dawn's palm, as if it was staring at Dawn intently. As Dawn tried to touch it again, the shard suddenly burst in light, before seemingly melting into her hand and disappearing._

" _Agh?!" Dawn yelped in pain, a sudden burning sensation coursing through her._

" _What the...brat, what the fuck did you do?" the man asked, grabbing Dawn by the neck._

" _Uh...I..." Dawn squeaked in pain._

"Let the girl go!" _the police officer yelled._

" _Where did you hide the shard?!" the man demanded, choking Dawn further. "Don't fuck with me you little shit, where is it?!"_

" _I..." Dawn gagged, stuck between choking and suffering from the intense burning feeling._

 ***THUD***

 _She couldn't feel the pain from the choking anymore as the burning sensation overcoming it all._

 ***THUD***

 _She couldn't even hear the man yelling at her, or the police officers yelling._

' **Finally. I have a chance.'**

' _Huh?'_

 _Before Dawn could even think, a tearing noise cut through the chaos, stopping the choking. She looked up to see two black spikes stabbing through the man's arms, making him let go of her._

" _Wh-What the...?!" the man stammered._

" _Wha...?" Dawn asked, confused._

 _She glanced at the spikes, and saw that the strange black spikes were emerging from her own shadow._

" _What...? What is that...?" Dawn asked._

" _Wha...?! What is this!? Brat, what the hell is this?!" the man growled, reaching out to her to grab her._

" _N-No!" Dawn cried as she backed away._

 _At response to the act of aggression, more dark spikes shot out from her shadow and stabbed at the man all over him._

" _Augh?! Agh...!?" the man cried in pain._

" _Eh...? Eh?" Dawn asked, confused and scared._

' **He'll pay for harming you.'**

 _The spikes began to sink deeper into the man, earning more blood to leak out from him and an even more agonizing cry of pain from the man._

" _W-Wait, stop, please!" Dawn cried out, reaching out as if that would stop the spikes from harming him any further._

 _To her surprise, the spikes seemed to stop and pry themselves out of the man, before residing back into Dawn's shadow. Under the midst of the confusion, the police officers rushed over and apprehended the man._

" _Eh...?" Dawn asked, not understanding a single thing going on._

" _We need to treat this man's wounds first," an officer said._

" _Right," another officer said. "But still..."_

 _Dawn looked up to see the police officers grabbing the man and carefully hauling him away. But when they glanced at her, they all had a fearful expression on their faces._

" _Eh...?" Dawn asked, before looking around. She noticed that more people have gathered around in response to the commotion._

" _What was that...?"_

" _Did you see that...?"_

" _That was freaky..."_

" _How is she able to do that?"_

" _Did you see what it did to that guy? What if that was us?"_

" _What a freak!"_

 _Dawn looked around frantically. Everyone around her was talking amongst themselves in hushed voices that she could somehow hear, either sneering at her or looking at her as if she was some kind of scary monster._

" _She's a monster! A Witch!"_

" _She's a witch!"_

" _Witch!"_

 _Dawn glanced around frantically, but everyone was leering at her, muttering quietly or outright branding her as a 'witch'. She wasn't a witch. She wasn't anything scary. She was just a small girl, confused and scared herself. Wanting to hide it all, Dawn curled up into a ball, shutting herself away from everyone._

" _I'm not a witch...I'm not a witch..." Dawn quietly cried to herself, trying her best to ignore everything and everyone. "Mommy...Daddy..."_

 _Eventually Dawn's mother and father were finally able to rush out of the museum and come to their daughter's rescue, before taking her away from the crowd and away from Oreburgh. They assured her that she did nothing wrong, but the damage had been done. When Dawn returned home, she glanced at a window._

 _Her eyes were gleaming platinum._

* * *

Dawn glared at Roark, who held his hands up in defense.

"I was there, y'know," Roark admitted. "I was the one who called the police. Fortunately they came very quickly before things got messy, but...I never expected things to go that far."

"...I see..." Dawn narrowed her gaze at him.

"And then news caught wind of the whole incident...labeling you as the witch who almost killed that burglar," Roark said. "...You must have suffered quite a lot ever since."

Dawn said nothing, merely glaring at the redhead. Stuck in the middle of the tense atmosphere, Barry squirmed slightly, before deciding to break the ice.

"So, if you do know about Dawn and her 'powers'," Barry said. "Then do you know what caused it in the first place?"

"Yeah," Roark nodded, before bringing up the shard. "This. There's no other logical explanation. She was the last person to have the shard before that incident."

"So, what is that shard, exactly?" Barry asked.

"We don't know," Roark shook his head. "We were going to examine the first one, but you know what happened to that...and we couldn't find another one until now. Although it's fairly obvious that it's something out of the ordinary. It's something...sinister."

Roark glanced at Dawn.

"And you want it," Roark deduced.

"So what of it?" Dawn sneered.

"...I can't imagine what you would want or do with another shard like this," Roark shook his head. "You were able to almost kill a man as a small child with just one shard. I can't imagine what you would be capable of by obtaining another shard. It would be unwise to just hand this over to you. However...

"I'm willing to at least allow you to prove yourself."

"Prove myself...how...?" Dawn asked cautiously.

"Battle and win against me," Roark declared. "I am the Oreburgh Gym Leader. If you can beat me, then I'll give you the shard."

"Wha–really?" Barry asked.

"I think it's fair," Roark replied. "If you can beat me, then I can trust you with the shard."

"...And what if I do beat you, but were to use the shard for anything...evil?" Dawn tested.

"True, you have enough reason and motive to try and do something like that," Roark said. "But would you really? Especially with your friend here? You seem to care about him greatly."

Dawn scowled, before glancing towards Barry for a moment, before glancing back at Roark.

"...No..." Dawn grumbled.

"See? You aren't a bad girl," Roark smiled. "So, what do you say?"

"...I accept," Dawn reluctantly agreed. "Might as well kill two birds with one stone."

"Hehe, funny you should say that to a Rock-type expert like me," Roark chuckled. "Alright, I'll be waiting for you at the gym."

And with that, Roark took the shard with him and left the room, leaving Dawn and Barry by themselves.

"Sorry about that," Dawn apologized to Barry. "Looks like I go first."

"Huh? No, it's alright," Barry assured her. "I can always go after you...and this is real important anyways."

"Thanks," Dawn smiled. "Now, let's go. Might as well not keep him waiting."

"Right," Barry agreed, before heading out the room with Dawn.

' _Hm, looks like things became interesting,'_ Giratina decided to chime in.

' _At least it's better than killing the man for it,'_ Dawn mentally replied.

' _And do you think you'll be able to defeat him?'_ Giratina asked. _'He is a gym leader after all.'_

' _...It's not like I have any other option,'_ Dawn shrugged. _'And besides, I can always re-challenge the gym if I lose with any knowledge about his team on the rematch.'_

' _You thought this through,'_ Giratina commented. _'Well, good luck. The gym leader is a powerful trainer.'_

' _I know, but thanks for the vote of confidence,'_ Dawn thought back.

She knew what she was getting herself into. Having to fight a gym leader with little prep time wasn't very wise, regardless of what kind of team she had. Personally she had hoped that Barry would challenge him first, and she could watch so she could see what his Pokémon were and come up with a decent strategy. But now, she was going in blind.

Oh well, it's not like she could do anything about it. She would just have to fight Roark, beat him, and obtain the shard. The gym badge and TM were just bonuses.

And if not, there were always other ways of getting the shard from him anyways.

* * *

 **To be continued**

* * *

 **AN:** And that's that. We learn some more about Lucas, learn that Barry doesn't hold grudges (but is terrible at remembering names) run into everyone's favorite Interpol cop, Looker, and now Dawn has to fight Roark for another shard. So yeah gym battle's next chapter. I mean it's better than having Dawn outright kill him, right? I certainly think so.

And now for the team rosters:

Dawn: Turtwig / Shinx

Barry: Wukong (Chimchar) / Hawkeye (Starly) / Chloris (Budew)

Lucas: Piplup / Zubat

And let's end it off here. Sorry it took me 4 months this time. And hopefully the next chapter won't take as long (hopefully). Anyways, thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I'll see ya next time.


	4. Defiant

**Platinum Witch**

 **Chapter 4: Defiant**

* * *

 **AN:** Finally finished this thing! Man writer's block is a bitch to deal with. Aight, now to upload this! When's the last time I updated this story anyways?

 **-Checks last update date-**

 **-Internal screaming commences-**

I am so sorry. Between college, new games showing up, a mild case of writer's block, and some procrastination here and there, this was a bitch to deal with. Now I'm going to say this right now, I have in no way abandoned anything. I enjoy writing these stories. I'm just terrible at keeping a stable schedule at this point. Sometimes I lose interest, yes, but I will never abandon something I started that I like, such as Platinum Witch.

Speaking of, I'm kinda surprised at the amount of favs/follows this story has in spite of it being only 3 chapters long and not having been updated for a year. I thought it would be much lower not gonna lie. I can only assume those 3 chapters were pretty good. Regardless, I apologize immensely for taking a year to finally update this thing, and would like to thank all of you who still follow/like this story. Now to reply to the reviews that's been piling up:

 **Tony Anderson:** I am so sorry for the wait, but here's your gym battle!

 **zWarLock:** Thanks! Glad you liked it!

 **Supersilver46:** Well only time can tell what Giratina wants with those shards.

 **TheDarkMaster4000:** Nice catch! I'll implement the changes if I haven't already. Glad you like how I portrayed Looker so far. Don't worry though, Lucas will get some more screen time, but for the time being I do plan to have Lucas travel solo more or less. Mostly because his goals don't really coincide with Dawn's/Barry's goals, so he would have no reason to travel with them.

 **I. M. Poik:** Barry calling Lucas 'Luigi'? No that's not a reference, it's just Barry screwing up Lucas' name again. Overall I'm glad you liked the previous chapter and everyone in it, and I'm also very sorry for the long wait.

 **ForeverMistake:** Ah shit, yeah I kinda mixed you up with someone else. Sorry bout that ^^'.

 **BreadNotDead:** Yeah poor Dawn. She's a woobie. Anyways, glad you liked how I portrayed everyone.

 **OblivionWings:** Well hey, glad you liked my story! Hope to keep you entertained.

 **Ultimateheatblast4:** Yeah I mixed up your review with ForeverMistakes, sorry bout that.

 **Knight of Wings:** No worries! You're not as late as I am, haha. All your questions and thoughts will be answered in the future, I promise. Everything has a meaning after all.

 **Two Evil Carrots:** Why thank you! And are the shards the Griseous Orb? I dunno maybe.

 **Judgment of the Arbiter:** Thank you! Sorry for the long wait in updating.

 **Eris:** Writer's block, yes. Pokemon GO? Eh...I guess... I won't abandon the stories though, don't worry. They'll just take a while to update. Dawn's...been through a lot, enough said. Eh, I kinda see Barry (at least how I plan to portray him) as a guy who you can piss off easily, but won't hold any grudges unless they're serious. And yeah, I could've used Kalosian themed insults since it's more geographically accurate in-universe, but the French ones were more straight to the point and more hilarious to me.

 **dreamingthroughstarlight:** Thank you! I'm still continuing the stories, no worries. The shards? I dunno maybe.

 **Guest:**...I am so sorry.

* * *

 _Why is he standing in my way?_

 _Why can't I just take the shard and be on my way?_

 _I need it way more than he does. He should be able to tell._

 _Why do people insist on getting into my business?_

 _Why can't they just leave me to my business and leave me alone?_

 _...How annoying. These worms._

* * *

After resting up at the pokécenter, she and Barry were escorted by Roark to the Oreburgh Gym. The gym was a narrow building built out of stone. There were raised paths and corridors, but at the end laid a rather large battlefield. Dawn assumed that was where she would have to fight Roark.

"Over there," Roark said as he led the two to the battlefield.

Dawn glanced at the man. She already knew that he specialized in Rock-type Pokémon. She and Barry had already discussed that part beforehand, and the gym's aesthetics was a dead giveaway anyways.

The problem was what kind of Rock-types he would have.

It was very common for a Rock-type to also be a hybrid typing with Ground, meaning that Shinx wouldn't be very effective. That meant that Turtwig would be the only one with a good shot at winning, and that left her in an unfavorable disadvantage in terms of numbers. Even if a Grass-type was super effective against Rock, that also meant that Turtwig would have to go through the entire battle on his own. If she could get creative with Shinx then this would be a different story, but at the current standing, it was safe to assume that Turtwig would be by himself this match.

"The rules are simple," Roark explained. "This will be a two versus two match. Whoever manages to defeat the other's two Pokémon first is declared the winner."

"Simple indeed," Dawn muttered.

The girl looked around, examining the arena. Predictably it was a rocky terrain, which Roark's Pokémon would be suited to. Although, if used right, she could use this terrain to her advantage.

"DAAAWN!" Barry called out from the side of the arena, where he was placed to spectate. "You can do it!"

Dawn smiled, genuinely happy that Barry was cheering for her. She quickly shifted her gaze back to Roark as he let out his first Pokémon. From it, a giant serpentine Pokémon made out of snakes emerged, landing onto the field and slithering around the rock formations.

"Onix..." Dawn muttered as she scanned the rock behemoth with her pokédex.

"Onix, the rock snake Pokémon. It burrows through the ground at a speed of 50 mph while feeding on large boulders. Type: Rock/Ground."

Already, Shinx is useless.

Dawn grumbled under her teeth as she released Turtwig. The grass turtle jumped in shock at the sight of the giant rock serpent, before looking back to Dawn nervously.

"Don't worry," Dawn said. "Just focus on the opponent. This is important."

Turtwig stared at Dawn, before nodding and facing Onix, stomping his foot in aggression.

"Well then, let's begin!" Onix yelled. "Stealth Rock!"

Onix spat out several sharp rocks from its mouth, where they scattered all around and surrounding the arena, hovering slightly off the ground. Dawn narrowed her eyes at the floating rocks, before dismissing them and focusing on Onix.

"Razor Leaf!"

Turtwig whipped the leaf on his head, where several sharp leaves shot out at Onix, slicing at the rock serpent. Onix roared in pain, before forcibly diving into the ground.

"It used Dig!" Barry yelled. "Be careful Dawn!"

"Tch!" Dawn clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Turtwig, be careful."

The turtle nodded and looked around, trying to see where Onix would emerge from. The ground slowly started to rumble underneath Turtwig, which he sensed. The turtle swiftly jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding Onix suddenly emerging from where Turtwig was originally standing.

"Pursue it!" Roark yelled.

The rock snake spotted Turtwig, before diving towards him. Turtwig jumped out of the way once again, but Onix followed after the turtle relentlessly. Turtwig jumped back to avoid another strike, but he slipped on the ground, allowing Onix to slam into him and send him flying into a wall.

"Turtwig!" Dawn cried out.

The turtle fell back to the ground, before getting back up, shaking his head and growling at Onix.

"Don't let up! Tackle!" Roark yelled.

"Turtwig, jump on its head!" Dawn yelled.

Onix charged towards Turtwig, as the turtle stood his ground, watching the rock snake charge at him. Once Onix got close enough, the turtle jumped and latched onto Onix's head spike.

"What?!" Roark gasped.

"Now! Absorb!" Dawn yelled.

Turtwig bit onto Onix's head spike, before emitting a green energy that surrounded his entire body. Onix roared in pain as Turtwig began to drain the energy out of it. The rock snake thrashed about throughout the arena, trying to shake Turtwig off, but the turtle refused to let go, holding onto the spike for dear life. Eventually Onix groaned in pain, before collapsing onto the ground. Turtwig finally let go of Onix and dropped down to the ground, unconscious and unable to battle any further. Turtwig, meanwhile, looks much better than earlier, having drained out Onix's health and replenishing his own for it.

"...How tenacious of you," Roark commented as he recalled Onix. "You did well, pal."

Turtwig rushed back to Dawn, who kneeled down and petted him on his shell.

"Nice job," Dawn complimented Turtwig.

Turtwig smiled, pleased by Dawn's compliments of his battle.

"Let's go Dawn! You got this!" Barry cheered from the sidelines.

Dawn smiled at Barry and waved at him, before hardening her glare back at Roark, who took out another pokéball.

"You're a lot gutsier than I initially dismissed," Roark said. "And a lot more resourceful."

Roark tossed the ball into the air and released his next Pokémon. The new Pokémon was a gray dinosaur-like Pokémon with a hooked beak, red irises, and a hard, blue dome-shaped head with four spikes on its back. Dawn took out her pokédex and scanned the newcomer.

"Cranidos, the Head Butt Pokémon. A lifelong jungle dweller from 100 million years ago, it would snap obstructing trees with headbutts."

"So this is his ace, I'm gonna assume..." Dawn mumbled. "...Stay sharp, Turtwig."

Turtwig nodded as he stood his ground, leering at Cranidos.

"Let's end this, quick!" Dawn yelled. "Razor Leaf!"

Turtwig roared as he whipped his leaf, shooting several razor sharp leaves at Cranidos.

"Flamethrower!" Roark yelled back.

"Eh?!" Dawn gasped.

Cranidos leered back at Turtwig, before releasing a hot breath of fire at the incoming Razor Leaves, burning then to a crisp, before the flames proceeded to shoot towards Turtwig. Turtwig didn't expect the Fire-type attack, and ended up taking the hit before he could move out of the way.

"Turtwig!" Dawn cried.

Turtwig fell back from the attack, before getting up. While he was still able to fight, the turtle still took a lot of damage from the sudden flamethrower, and was already panting.

"It knew Flamethrower...?" Barry gaped, not expecting the Rock-type Pokémon to have such a move ready.

"Rock-types, while very resilient, have a lot of weaknesses," Roark said, hearing Barry. "So I make sure that my Pokémon can cover as many type disadvantages as possible. I also have Shock Wave for any Water-types you might have in your party."

Dawn clicked her teeth in annoyance. She didn't expect the Rock-type gym leader to have this kind of countermeasures for Grass-types. While it was a smart decision, it suddenly left Dawn in a rather tight situation.

"You can switch if you want," Roark called out.

Dawn gritted her teeth at Roark, but did it anyways as she recalled Turtwig. Despite the fact that the cranidos has Flamethrower, Turtwig was still her best chance at winning. Dawn sent out Shinx in place of Turtwig, hoping for a new strategy. As soon as Shinx stepped onto the field, the rocks that were floating around the arena all suddenly converged at Shinx, before striking him down.

"-Agh!-" Shinx yelped in pain.

"Shinx!" Dawn cried out as the rocks floated away and Shinx shook it off. "What was that...?!"

"Stealth Rock," Roark explained. "Whenever you send out a Pokémon, they'll strike down upon it."

Oh great, so now Turtwig would take damage the moment he comes back in. And Dawn wasn't so sure on Shinx's chances against the Cranidos. Shinx managed to get his footing back, before snarling at Cranidos, intimidating it a little.

"...Well that's good at least," Dawn muttered, noting that Shinx's ability was taking effect. "Shinx, Spark!"

"Cranidos, Headbutt!"

Shinx's body surged with electricity, before lunging at Cranidos. Cranidos, unfazed, charged at Shinx, head first. The two collided, as Shinx electrocuted Cranidos, but the Rock-type still powered through, smashing into Shinx and blasting him across the field from the sheer strength of the head butt.

"Shinx!" Dawn cried.

Shinx fell to the ground, before picking himself back up, panting heavily. Cranidos, meanwhile, shook it off as if it was nothing, before proceeding to glare down at Shinx.

"You lowered his attack, right?" Dawn asked Shinx, who nodded. "Oh bloody joy..."

"Don't let it up! Headbutt!" Roark yelled.

Cranidos let out a roar, before charging towards Shinx once more. Shinx jumped out of the way, leading Cranidos straight into a rock, smashing it into bits. Cranidos looked unfazed, before proceeding to turn around and charge at Shinx again.

"How the hell am I supposed to stop this...?" Dawn muttered as Shinx did his best to desperately avoid getting hit by Cranidos and its terrifyingly strong head butt. The Rock-type showed no signs of stopping any time soon.

At this point, her only chance was to have Turtwig finish it off in one shot. But with Stealth Rock ready to strike him down as soon as he got back into the arena and the previous Flamethrower taking a decent amount of Turtwig's health away, she wasn't sure if Turtwig would have enough stamina to take a hit from Cranidos.

She needed Shinx to weaken Cranidos enough for Turtwig to clean up afterwards.

"Running won't solve anything!" Roark yelled. "You're only delaying the inevitable!"

"...I have to chance it..." Dawn muttered as Cranidos turned around and charged at Shinx once again. "Shinx, Spark!"

Shinx nodded and coursed electricity around him as Cranidos charged at him, before the Electric-type met Cranidos with his attack. Shinx electrocuted Cranidos, but Cranidos still managed to muscle his way through, smashing Shinx straight into the rock behind Shinx. The rock predictably crumbled into pieces, while Shinx fell down to the ground, knocked out from the attack. Cranidos stepped back, but staggered a bit, electricity coursing around it.

"He got paralyzed?" Roark gasped. "...So that was your aim..."

"Thanks, Shinx," Dawn said softly as she recalled Shinx. "You did well."

Dawn then sent out Turtwig once more in place of Shinx. As the turtle landed back onto the ground, the Stealth Rocks converged at Turtwig and struck at him.

"-Gh?!-" Turtwig grunted as the rocks bashed at him, before they floated back to the outer parts of the arena.

"We're finishing this now!" Dawn called out to Turtwig, who nodded in response.

"Like I'll let you!" Roark yelled. "Headbutt!"

Cranidos stood back up and started to run at Turtwig, but the Rock-type winced in pain and stopped, kneeling on one leg as electricity surrounded it and stopped the attack.

"Tch, paralysis," Roark muttered. "Fine then, let's go for Flamethrower!"

Cranidos managed to get back up, before spewing another Flamethrower at Turtwig. The turtle rolled to the side, before charging at Cranidos. Cranidos kept trying to burn Turtwig with Flamethrower, but Turtwig was able to outrun the attack and close the distance.

"Razor Leaf!"

Before Cranidos could shoot out another Flamethrower, Turtwig shot several Razor Leaves at Cranidos, severely hurting him with the Grass-type attack and causing him to wince, stopping the motion.

"Now, Absorb!" Dawn yelled.

Before Cranidos could recover, Turtwig lunged at Cranidos and proceeded to gnaw at his head. He then proceeded to emit a green energy, before proceeding to drain the remaining energy out of Cranidos. The Rock-type cried in pain as it thrashed about, before finally caving and falling. Turtwig got off Cranidos, emerging victorious, as Cranidos laid flat on the floor, unconscious.

* * *

"ALRIGHT! DAWN WINS!" Barry roared in approval, before rushing over to the girl and giving her a big hug.

"I...I did it..." Dawn mumbled, too wide-eyed in surprise to push the boy off.

"Yes you did," Roark sighed as he went over to Cranidos. "You did well, buddy."

Roark recalled Cranidos, before picking up Turtwig and walking over to the girl, who snapped out of her stupor and kicked Barry off of her. Roark proceeded to hand Dawn back Turtwig; the girl cradling the small turtle into her arms.

"Nice job out there," Dawn smiled at Turtwig.

"-Thanks,-" Turtwig replied happily, but tiredly.

"Impressive," Roark said to Dawn. "You managed to handedly take care of Cranidos."

"I guess..." Dawn muttered. _'I probably would've lost if Shinx hadn't paralyzed it.'_

"You're probably thinking that you would've lost if you hadn't paralyzed Cranidos with Spark, aren't you?" Roark asked Dawn, who lit up in surprise from the man accurately guessing what she was thinking. "Well I would say that I would had a better chance if Cranidos hadn't gotten paralyzed, it's still a legitimate way to win. You placed your trust in your Pokémon to accomplish the job and believed in them. That's what being a trainer is."

"I see..." Dawn mumbled.

"Well regardless, you definitely earned this," Roark said as he took a badge and a disk out from his shirt pocket and handed it to Dawn. "The Coal Badge. According to the Pokémon League rules, I have to give you this if you won anyways. And here's a TM (Technical Machine). It contains Stealth Rock. Hopefully you can find some use in it."

"Thank you..." Dawn said as she accepted the items. "...Now, where is it?"

Roark's smile faltered slightly, before sighing.

"Very well," Roark said, before walking over towards where Barry had been standing before. He peered behind a rock, before taking out the glass case that carried the shard that Dawn wanted. "You did prove yourself out there. And I did promise after all."

Roark opened the case and presented it to Dawn. The girl glanced at the case, before reaching into it. As she touched the shard, it began to glow brightly, before exerting a strong pressure that coursed through the entire gym.

 ***THUD***

"What the...?" Roark muttered, feeling the pressure.

The case suddenly cracked, before shattering into several pieces as the shard glowed brighter.

"Whoa!" Barry yelled as he and Roark shielded themselves from the flying pieces of glass.

 ***THUD***

The shard floated in the palm of Dawn's hand, before it seemingly sunk and melted into her hand.

"Agh?!" Dawn yelped as she clutched her hand in pain.

"Dawn...?" Barry asked, rushing up to her in concern. "Are you okay?"

 ***THUD***

Dawn could feel her body heating up and course with pain as she clutched her hand. Her head was pounding harshly and she found it becoming harder to breath, coughing heavily.

"This is..." Roark muttered, surprised at what was going on and unsure of what to do.

 ***THUD***

"What...is this...?" Dawn moaned in pain.

" _I entrust you three to govern the three aspects of the universe: Time, Space, and its counterpart, Antimatter."_

" _Of course, Father."_

' _Eh?'_ Dawn thought as the pain stopped.

"Dawn...?" Barry asked as she looked up to him and Roark. "Are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah...I'm fine now..." Dawn said.

"You sure?" Roark asked. "Do you feel any different?"

Dawn glanced at the man, before looking at her hands.

"Not much, really," Dawn shrugged.

"Hm... I guess it wasn't enough to make a remarkable change," Roark deduced.

"So...now what?" Dawn asked.

"OOH! OOH! I wanna battle you now!" Barry exclaimed, jumping up and down from excitement.

"Right, you need a gym badge too," Dawn muttered, before turning to Roark. "So how about it? I'm sure he'll put up a challenge at least."

"I'll try not to lose to two trainers in the same day though," Roark chuckled, before heading back. "Let me heal up my Pokémon first. Then we'll battle."

"Alright then," Barry nodded, grinning widely as Roark left to heal his party. "I'll go get something to drink while we wait. Dawn, you want anything?"

"I'll take a water," Dawn replied, before watching the blonde boy rush off to go procure some beverages.

Now alone, Dawn looked around, before spotting a rather large rock on the field. The girl stared at it, before closing her eyes, and taking a deep breath. Dawn opened her eyes again, revealing a sharp platinum gleam with black irises, before a pitch black circle formed from her shadow underneath. The ever-familiar shadowy tendrils formed from the circle, growing in length by the second as they surrounded her.

" _You can now freely control your power now, it would seem,"_ Giratina's voice rang in Dawn's head.

"...I can tell," Dawn mumbled, before glancing back to the rock. She moved her arm inwards, where the front appendages moved in the same direction. Dawn noted the movement, before swinging her arm out strongly, which the appendages swiftly swiped outwards in the same direction, slicing the rock in front of her cleanly.

"Huh, don't remember them being able to do _that_ ," Dawn commented dryly.

" _This could prove to be useful,"_ Giratina commented.

"Yeah..." Dawn mumbled, remembering one more important fact. "...Gira, did you hear anything in my head, by any chance?"

" _...What do you mean?"_ Giratina asked.

"I could've sworn...that I heard someone talk to me," Dawn explained. "And I heard a reply...three voices at the same time...and one of them was you...Gira...do you know what that was?"

" _...Sorry, I'm clueless as well,"_ Giratina replied.

"...I see..." Dawn muttered.

" _Perhaps it was simply a side effect of sorts,"_ Giratina offered. _"I'm sure it's nothing to worry about."_

"If you say so..." Dawn replied, before she closed her eyes and exhaled. The shadow underneath her began to shrink down and revert back to her normal shadow, with the appendages dissipating completely. She looked at her pokétch, seeing her reflection from it. Her eyes were back to normal.

"Good," Dawn nodded. It would be a problem if there were any other side effects that could prove to be detrimental, like being unable to revert her eyes back to normal.

"DAAAAWN!"

Dawn turned around to see Barry and Roark heading back to the field, with Barry holding two bottles of water.

"Here you go!" Barry said as he handed Dawn a water bottle.

"Thanks," Dawn smiled, accepting the bottle and taking a drink from it.

"Alright then, let's get this started!" Barry exclaimed, before facing Roark. "I'm gonna kick your ass and get my first gym badge!"

"Bold words," Roark chuckled. "Let's see if you can back up those words."

* * *

Surprisingly enough, Barry was able to deal with Roark with some ease. Thanks to having watched Dawn fight Roark beforehand, Barry was aware of what Roark would utilize in battle, thus allowing the boy to prepare in advance, in surprisingly short amount of time, given how he immediately battled Roark right after Dawn.

Cranidos snarled in irritation, as it spewed another Flamethrower at Chloris, who jumped to the other side to avoid it. The Rock-type flinched and knelt on one knee, finding himself paralyzed once more from the budew's Stun Spore. Cranidos hissed, annoyed that he was immediately found to be paralyzed once more.

"Don't give up just yet!" Roark urged Cranidos. "Flamethrower!"

"Water Sport!" Barry yelled.

Cranidos tried to shoot another Flamethrower at Chloris, but the Grass-type began to twirl around, releasing water from its pod and covering the arena with the water, weakening the Flamethrower before it connected. Thanks to the Water Sport, the Flamethrower was weak enough for Chloris to withstand it. Roark gritted his teeth, frustrated that Barry had hid this tactic for up until now.

"Now, finish it off with Absorb!" Barry bellowed.

Before Cranidos could properly react, Budew shot several beams of green energy at Cranidos, ensnaring its jaw closed, before proceeding to drain the remaining energy out of it. Within a few seconds, Cranidos fell to the ground, unconscious once again as the beams of energy dissipated.

"YES!" Barry cheered, raising his fist in the air. "WE WON!"

"Yes, you did," Roark sighed, before going to Cranidos and comforting the Rock-type. "You did well. Sorry for the slip ups."

The redhead recalled his Pokémon, while Barry rushed up to Chloris and lifted her up in his hands.

"You were awesome out there, Chloris!" Barry complimented the budew.

"-Th-Thanks...-" Chloris mumbled back, happy that her trainer was praising her for her hard work.

"How boring..." Dawn mumbled to herself quietly as Roark walked up to congratulate Barry. "It was so much as I expected..."

" _You seem to have had confidence that he wouldn't lose,"_ Giratina commented.

"You should know as well," Dawn replied. "Battling's one of the few things Barry's genuinely good at. Even if he's up against a gym leader like him, give him some data to work with, and Barry losing is a prospect that's hard to imagine."

" _True,"_ Giratina agreed. _"The boy, while foolish in many aspects, is a good fighter in his own right."_

The girl walked over to Barry, who showed her his newly obtained badge and TM with his usual goofy grin.

"Look Dawn, I won!" Barry exclaimed.

"Yes you did," Dawn responded with a gentle smile on her face.

"To think I'd lose to two rookie trainers twice in a row on the same day," Roark sighed, before chuckling. "You two were very impressive for starting trainers, so I'm not too upset. It just means you'll both make for outstanding ones in the future."

"Thank you," Dawn replied curtly.

"So, what happens now?" Barry asked.

"Hmm, well the next suggested gym would be the one at Eterna City," Roark explained. "That would be up north. I suggest going from Jubilife. You can visit some other towns and landmarks there, maybe expand your teams somewhat more."

"Sounds like a plan," Barry nodded. "Alright, let's get going! Thanks for the battle!"

"No problem," Roark smiled. "I wish you two luck on your journeys!"

Barry immediately headed for the exit, not wanting to waste any more time. Dawn began to follow him out, but Roark stopped her, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"While I don't know what that shard is, I do place my trust in them with you," Roark told Dawn. "I have no choice after all, really. So please, just don't abuse them for anything you would regret."

Dawn glanced back at Roark, who had a serious expression on his face. The girl merely nodded nonchalantly, before breaking out of Roark's grasp and following Barry.

"...I do hope everything ends up alright," Roark said to himself as he saw the two off. "For your case, at least..."

* * *

Lucas glanced at his pokétch. It was 8:18 at night. He was supposed to meet up with Professor Rowan at 8:10. The man was eight minutes late. While Lucas was a patient person, Rowan was known to be strict about time, so he was surprised that Rowan was even late to begin with. Could something have happened his caretaker? Somewhat unlikely since Jubilife was a decently safe city, but the possibility was still out there.

"...I'm sure Professor is fine," Lucas muttered to himself to try and reassure himself, but he still couldn't help but feel worried.

Lucas then recalled that strange man he had encountered in the morning today. What was his name again? Looker or something. That didn't matter at the moment. The man, while peculiar and eccentric, called himself 'a member of the International Police'. If he was telling the truth, then there was something amiss that required the attention of the International Police. Which was something that was not reassuring to hear, regardless of context.

"Oh hey it's Luciano!"

An eyebrow twitched in annoyance as he turned around to see Barry and Dawn. At least it's starting to sound similar.

"Lucas," the beret-wearing boy corrected Barry.

"Oh, sorry," Barry mumbled sheepishly.

"What're you doing standing around like a loner?" Dawn asked Lucas rather bluntly.

"Well, I'm waiting for Professor Rowan," Lucas explained. "But he hasn't arrived yet, even though he's now ten minutes late."

"You sound like a girl who came early on a date," Dawn muttered.

"Excuse me?" Lucas blurted, not expecting the response.

"Regardless," Dawn continued, ignoring Lucas's response. "Have you tried contacting him then?"

"Well..." Lucas began, before realizing that he could've done that.

"Well?" Dawn asked, glaring at Lucas.

Lucas took that as a sign and immediately took out his pokégear and immediately dialed Rowan's number, but the call never went through.

"Nothing," Lucas shook his head.

"You think something happened to him?" Barry asked.

"Yo there's something going on at the north exit!"

"Let's go check it out!"

Before Lucas could continue the conversation, several people started heading over to where the north exit of town was, apparently some kind of commotion going on there.

"...Probably worth checking out," Dawn commented as she headed towards the commotion as well.

Barry quickly followed Dawn, while Lucas simply shrugged, before tailing behind, seeing that he had nothing better to do. The trio reached the supposed commotion, where a crowd of people were already gathered. The three kids managed to weave their way through the crowd to see what was going on, and to their surprise, there was Professor Rowan in the middle of it all, seemingly arguing with two men with bowl-cut turquoise hair and wearing what appeared to be space suits.

"Well there's your date," Dawn commented dryly.

"That would explain why he was late," Lucas muttered.

"So who're the weirdos?" Barry asked, pointing to the two men in space suits.

"No idea..." Lucas shook his head. "What're they even arguing about, anyways?"

"And why would I even think of handing over my research material to you lot?!" Rowan growled at the two odd men. "This is my life's work! I would rather die than hand it over to some random hooligans! And you're not even offering to pay!"

"Now, now, now, now, now," one of the strange-looking men said. "You must comply! It is for the greater good!"

"Failure to comply will result in a painful time, sir," the other strange-looking men added rather intimidatingly.

"They want his research?" Barry asked. "What is Professor Rowan researching on, anyways?"

"It's on Pokémon Evolution," Lucas explained. "He's researching into the many ways and methods of evolution, and he's also researching on the thesis of how 90% of the existing Pokémon can evolve, and why the remaining 10% can't."

"Interesting..." Dawn muttered offhandedly. "And what use would those two astronaut rejects have with it?"

In spite of arguing with the two men, Rowan noticed the trio.

"Ah hello you three," Rowan said in a much happier tone, as he blatantly ignored the two men he was just arguing with in favor of walking up to them. "Well, how is the pokédex progressing?"

"It's progressing smoothly," Lucas reported.

"Yeah, thanks again for it!" Barry smiled.

Dawn simply nodded, the answer being obvious after the first two responses.

"Hm, that's good," Rowan said. "Anything else of interest happened?"

"Oh yeah!" Barry exclaimed. "Me and Dawn also won against the Oreburgh Gym Leader!"

"Dawn and I," Dawn corrected.

"Sorry."

"So you two did," Rowan mused, stroking his chin. "Very impressive. But hadn't I given you your first Pokémon only recently...? Hm...Perhaps being trainers is second nature for you two."

"Oh, Professor Rowan," one of the men interrupted, regaining everyone's attention. "Why must you be so difficult?"

"We are speaking to you on business, because for us, this is work," the other man said. "What we're saying is..."

The two proceeded to release two Pokémon; a glameow and another Pokémon that resembled a small skunk.

"We demand that you comply with our demands," the second man finished dauntingly.

"Oh shut it, you hooligans!" Rowan snapped, not at all fazed by the fact that the two men released Pokémon to threaten him. "Why must you be such a nuisance!? Let me list some lessons you two still _obviously_ need to learn."

Rowan stepped forward, causing the two men, and their Pokémon, to step back at the old man's furious glare.

"One, don't loiter around for no good reason! That's something degenerates do!

Two, don't interrupt others while they are attempting to converse! That's just plain rude!

Three, if you don't get your way, don't raise your voice to be intimidating! You only sound insecure about yourself like that!

Four, just because you're in a group, don't get the delusion that you've grown strong! That's like saying a pack of magikarps is a legitimate threat against a bloody zapdos or raikou!

And five, learn proper fashion, or else don't go out wearing those **ridiculous** outlandish outfits, because you OBVIOUSLY don't know a thing about it if you think whatever it is you're wearing is anything remotely close to being FASHIONABLE!

UNDERSTOOD?!"

Everyone was left shocked and speechless at the professor's rage-induced rant. No one moved an inch, still shook by how the old man systematically put down the two roguish men with criticizing words alone.

"Damn..." Dawn merely said, looking only mildly impressed, but still just as shocked as the others. "My respect for this man just skyrocketed."

"Damn he just roasted those mop heads," Barry said.

"Goodness...you call yourselves adults?" Rowan asked dismissively. "You three, don't grow up to be like these sorry specimens."

"Noted," Lucas nodded his head.

"You just HAD to make this personal, didn't you?!" the first man yelled. "You have forced our hand into making a show of force, old man!"

"We will make you regret insulting Team Galactic!" the second man yelled.

"Oh you sorry lot," Rowan said, before glancing at the trio. "You kids, give these thugs a lesson in civility, if you would be so kindly."

"Way ahead of you," Dawn said, before proceeding to shove Barry and Lucas up front. "Go get'em, boys."

"Wait, what?!" Lucas blurted.

"Okay!" Barry exclaimed.

"What? You're expecting a girl to fight for you?" Dawn asked. "C'mon, be men and show that you have balls and get to it."

"Pretty sure you're more qualified for this than us 'men'," Lucas muttered.

"Just go with it," Barry said. "If there's anything I learned, it's that Dawn's more stubborn than a tauros."

"You want me to kick your balls, Barry?" Dawn asked.

"Please no..."

"Then don't add any stupid comments."

"Okay..."

Rolling his eyes, Lucas sent out Piplup, while Barry sent out Wukong to face the skunk and glameow.

"-Alright! Fresh off a gym win, here we go!-" Wukong yelled.

"-Again with you?-" Piplup muttered. "-Whatever...let's just get this over with.-"

"Oh, that reminds me," Dawn said, as she took out her Vs. Recorder and lifted the lens up to the upcoming battle and began recording. "I did 'technically' promise after all."

* * *

"Stunky, Night Slash!"

"Glameow Slash!"

Both Stunky and Glameow lunged for Piplup and Wukong respectively, nails sharpened for a nasty strike. Piplup and Wukong both jumped and avoided the attacks, before retaliating by ramming into the enemy Pokémon.

"Wukong, Ember!"

"Piplup Bubble Beam!"

Wukong shot a stream of embers at Stunky, while Piplup fired a stream of bubbles at Glameow, blasting the two in a torrent of fire and bubbles.

"Now Scratch!"

"Peck!"

Wukong swung his nails at Glameow while Piplup smashed his beak into Stunky as the two tried to get up, sending them back to their trainers' feet.

"Damn it, get up Stunky!" the man growled, causing the skunk to scramble back onto its feet.

"Glameow, get back up and Bite that stupid monkey!" the other man yelled, scaring the cat back onto its feet.

"-Hmph, how pitiful,-" Piplup huffed. "-Let's just end this already.-"

"-C'mon, you can do better!-" Wukong yelled at the skunk and cat, not hearing Piplup's words.

"-Doubt it,-" Piplup muttered back.

Wukong dodged the incoming cat, while Piplup shot it from behind with a Bubble Beam as it landed disgracefully on the ground. The force was enough to knock out the cat.

"Grrrrr...Stunky you better cover up!" its trainer yelled. "Sludge Bomb!"

"Intercept it with Flame Wheel!" Barry yelled.

Stunky prepared to shoot something at Piplup, but Wukong charged at it as a burning wheel, smashing into the skunk before it could make its move.

"Brine!" Lucas yelled as Stunky fell into Glameow.

As the two tried to get up, Piplup spewed salty water at them, dousing them with the attack as saltwater soaked into their wounds. The two creatures cried in pain, before falling unconscious from the relentless barrage of attacks from Wukong and Piplup.

"Goddamn it!" the first man yelled as they recalled their defeated Pokémon.

"Excellent work," Rowan complimented the two boys, nodding in response. "You two have certainly trained your Pokémon well."

"Grrr...you leave us no option..." the first man grumbled reluctantly. "We will retreat for now..."

"That's right," the second man mumbled. "Team Galactic is benevolent to all!"

"HOLD IT!"

Everyone jumped, startled from the sudden shout, before someone shot out from the crowd that had gathered around the trio to reveal a familiar man in a brown trench coat.

"...Isn't that the dude from the Interpol?" Barry asked.

"Looker?" Dawn asked, remembering the man's name as she stopped the recording and put her device away.

"The Interpol?!" the first Team Galactic man yelped.

"You two said that you were with Team Galactic, yes?" Looker asked as he approached them while taking out a badge of sorts. "I am Looker of the International Police! You two are under arrest!"

"Shit, let's get out of here!" the second man yelped as he and his acquaintance dashed to the opposite direction and made their getaway.

"GET BACK HERE!" Looker yelled as he chased after the fleeing duo.

* * *

"...He seems to have a very busy life," Dawn simply commented.

"What a lousy lot," Rowan shook his head. "I do hope the officer does detain them."

"I guess..." Dawn shrugged. "...So what were they trying to steal from you exactly, Professor?"

"Ah yes," Rowan said. "As you are aware, they were after my research material."

"Research material?" Barry asked which Rowan nodded to in response.

"When Pokémon evolve, they seem to release some type of energy," Rowan explained. "For ages this energy has been researched, yet a conclusive result has not been made. However, I believe that this energy is a mystic power of sorts, far beyond our control.

Unfortunately, those ruffians seems to be studying the energy, and the potential it may have. They apparently want to know if this energy can be utilized for something..."

"Something? Like what?" Barry asked.

"That, I do not know," Rowan responded. "Nor do I wish to find out."

"Evidently," Lucas added on. "According to Professor Rowan's research, 90 percent of all Pokémon are somehow tied to evolution. Perhaps that's the reason those lunatics tried to take the professor's research data by force."

"That's unforgivable!" Barry exclaimed. "They should just find their own research material if they want it so bad! Not take other people's research material!"

"Well said, Barry," Rowan nodded. "It's all over now, so you all can relax. Still, thanks to you all, nothing came of the situation. And for that, I appreciate it."

"No problem, Professor!" Barry replied happily.

"It was the obvious thing to do," Lucas simply nodded.

"I didn't really do anything though..." Dawn muttered.

"Kudos to your battling skills you two," Rowan complimented Barry and Lucas. "And I am quite sure you aren't any far behind them as well, Dawn."

Dawn merely shrugged in response. While Rowan was right about her skill level being comparable to Barry's and Lucas's, she really did nothing to prove it to him. The man must have quite a bit of faith in her own abilities, which, while welcome, was strange to her.

"Why don't you two take on the Pokémon League challenge and go collect the other gym badges?" Rowan asked Dawn and Barry. "Doing so, you'll be sure to encounter lots of more Pokémon. And since you two already have one, might as well try your hands at the other seven."

"You don't need to say anymore!" Barry smirked. "That's the plan since day one, baby!"

"Eh, might as well," Dawn shrugged. "It out to be interesting to say the least. Would you happen to know where the closest gym would be then?"

"The closest gym from here, barring Oreburgh, which I assume you two already went to," Rowan said, getting a nod from Dawn and Barry. "That would be Eterna City. Go north from here. It is past Eterna Forest north of the next town, which should be Floaroma Town. There are some interesting Water-types that might interest you two near the town."

"Alright, sweet!" Barry replied.

"Acknowledged..." Dawn replied curtly.

"Good," Rowan nodded in approval. "Well then, I shall be on my way. I wish you children the best of luck with your journeys!"

Rowan proceeded made his way out of the city, headed back to Route 202. The crowd dispersed soon after, leaving the three kids on their own once again.

"So now what?" Lucas asked.

"Do what the professor advised us to do, I suppose," Dawn shrugged. "Head to Floaroma."

The two boys shrugged in response, before heading off to Route 203, heading straight north to Floaroma.

* * *

Looker gritted his teeth in annoyance as he entered the Floaroma Town pokécenter. The officer had lost sight of the two members of Team Galactic that he had been chasing, having used a smokescreen while escaping through the Ravaged Path. Looker sighed, knowing that griping over what has happened will not change anything.

"They might have not gotten too far," Looker said to himself as he ordered a small coffee from the café inside the center. "I suppose that's what I must hope for."

While it was wishful thinking, there might be a chance the two hooligans have not gotten far. There was only two paths out of the Ravaged Path, and Looker would have noticed if they went past him back to Jubilife even with the smokescreen. This meant that they could only go to Floaroma, or a facility near there. There could be a chance that they were here. And if they were, Looker would stop at nothing to hunt them down in the name of the International Police!

But where to look, though...?

"Indeed...where should I start to look?" Looker asked himself. "Even if they are potentially in Floaroma...where exactly...?"

"Hm? Looker?"

The man snapped out of his thought process to see three familiar young trainers.

"Oh, you three," Looker said.

"What're you doing here Mr. Looker?" Barry asked.

"Hm...I have...ahem...stopped here to rest..." Looker muttered.

"I see..." Lucas said.

"So what happened to the two grunts you were chasing after?" Dawn asked, crossing her arms.

"Ah...about that..." Looker mumbled, glancing the other way.

"...You lost them, didn't you?" Dawn asked, seeing right through Looker.

Looker groaned quietly, before sighing and scratching the back of his head, which was enough for the three to figure out that the officer had lost them.

"So you're telling us you let two people who tried to mug Professor Rowan escape?" Lucas asked, glaring at the adult sternly.

"To my shame, yes," Looker admitted. "However! I have deduced that they have ran off to Floaroma!"

Or at least have a hunch that they escaped here.

"I see..." Lucas muttered.

"Oh! Then let us help you find them!" Barry proposed.

"What?" Dawn and Lucas asked, glancing to the blonde in the group.

"We're just bystander trainers," Lucas asked Barry. "Why not just leave this to the capable officer?"

" _Capable being a stretch at the moment..."_ Giratina decided to add snidely.

"Quiet you," Dawn hissed under her breath.

"I mean why not?" Barry asked. "Even if he is more capable than us, we should still help him. They say two brains is better than one. So four brains outta be even better! Besides if they are the same two from back at Jubilife, then we can beat their asses again!"

"I mean...you're not wrong, but..." Lucas muttered.

"I cannot let young children like you three involved with the actions of criminals," Looker objected.

"But we beat their asses though, so it's not like we can't defend ourselves," Barry shot back.

"You defeated them?" Looker asked. This was news to him.

"At this rate you might as well take as much support as you can get," Dawn suggested. "It's not like we're incapable of fighting them, as you are aware of the footage I sent you."

"Footage?" Looker asked, before realizing what she was talking about, rummaging through his coat to find his own Vs. Recorder, and checking it. Indeed, there was new footage in it, sent from Dawn. Checking it showed Barry and Lucas, fighting and defeating the two Team Galactic members he was chasing after.

"You were one who told us to send you battle footage," Dawn pointed out.

"Indeed," Looker nodded. "This will prove to be very useful. I thank you...Ah, how rude of me. I never asked for your names when we first met."

"I'm Barry!"

"It's Lucas."

"...Dawn."

"I shall remember that," Looker nodded. "Now then, since you three seem to be willing to help, I shall accept your help."

Barry grinned and raised his fist into the air, Lucas sighed while raising his hands in defeat, while Dawn merely shrugged.

"Now then, let us split up," Looker said as he downed his coffee and headed out of the facility, with the three kids in tow. "If you do spot them, let me know through the Vs. Recorder."

"Right!" Barry nodded.

With a plan in motion, Looker, Barry and Lucas went off in their own directions, while Dawn stayed back, watching them go off on their hunt.

"Team Galactic, huh..." Dawn said, recalling what Professor Rowan had called them.

They were a strange bunch, indeed. Rowan was right when he criticized their fashion sense at least. And judging from what she saw from the earlier fight, they were not much to worry about. However, they had a strange insignia on their outfits. A rather stylized gold G on their chest, obviously meant to stand for 'Galactic'. While the insignia itself meant nothing to her, she clearly remembered seeing it prior to running into the grunts.

As she was about to head to her path, she noticed a small girl walking into town from the east gate, sobbing in her arms. Genuinely surprised, Dawn walked up to the girl.

"Hi there," Dawn said gently, getting the sobbing girl's attention. "What's wrong?"

"A-Are you a trainer...?" the girl asked between sobs, where Dawn nodded in response. "Th-then please! Help! I wanna see my papa!"

"Your papa?" Dawn asked.

"M-Me and my papa l-live in the Valley Windworks up ahead," the girl explained while still sobbing. "But th-then some strange people dressed like space people showed up...and kicked me out...and are making papa do something..."

Dawn's eyes widened at the explanation.

"...Did these people have a strange looking 'G' on their outfits?" Dawn asked.

"Y-Yes..." the girl stuttered. "P-Please miss...I wanna see my papa...!"

Dawn smiled as she rubbed the girl's head gently.

"Don't worry," she said gently. "I'll go save your papa."

"Y-You will...?" the girl asked.

"Absolutely," Dawn assured her. "I do need you to do something for me though. Can you do it?"

"U-Uh huh..." the girl nodded.

"Head back to the pokécenter, and wait there," Dawn said. "It's too dangerous out here for you all alone. A boy with blonde hair wearing an orange and white striped shirt should arrive there soon. If you see him, tell him that I'm at where you and your papa live, and tell them to come here. Can you do that for me?"

"U-Uh huh," the girl said, wiping her tears with her sleeve. "Please...just save papa."

"I will," Dawn nodded with a gentle smile. "Leave it to me."

The girl nodded, before heading to the pokécenter as Dawn told her to do. The gentle smile on her face quickly disappeared for her usual poker face frown as she glanced to the other direction, seeing large windmills not too far off.

" _You plan to storm the facility?"_ Giratina asked.

"Obviously," Dawn said as she headed in that very direction.

" _Query,"_ Giratina said. _"Was it the girl wanting to see her 'papa' what motivated you to do this?"_

"Well that's part of it," Dawn replied. "It's mostly for a more selfish reason."

" _Selfish, you say?"_

Dawn said nothing as she reached the Valley Windworks. The girl saw a man identical to the two members of Team Galactic guarding the entrance, and approached the man.

"Hey, what're you doing here?" the man asked menacingly. "No outsiders are allowed in right now."

"You're right, no outsiders are allowed here," Dawn growled as her eyes changed to their demonic platinum gleam.

Before the man could process what was happening, a shadowy tendril extended from her shadow and slammed itself across him, sending him crashing into a tree and knocking him out.

" _How do you plan to explain that one to the officer?"_ Giratina asked.

"Turtwig hit him hard," Dawn replied monotonously as she tried to open the door, only to find it locked. "Tch, why guard a locked door?"

The girl glanced down at the tendril that was besides her, before producing another one and shoving them into the lock. As the tendrils worked to pick the lock, Dawn took out her two pokéballs and released Turtwig and Shinx.

"All right, you two," Dawn said. "We're about to raid a facility full of bad and strange people. Don't show them any mercy."

"-Dawn since when did you have tentacles?-" Shinx asked.

"-I'll explain later,-" Turtwig told Shinx, who seemed to accept the answer.

The tendrils managed to pick the lock, unlocking the door. The tendrils shrunk back into her shadow as her eyes turned back to normal. The girl quietly opened the door and made her way into the facility.

* * *

Barry quietly crept around the corner of the outskirts of Floaroma ever so stealthy. After asking around town, he obtained some info about two strange-looking men in ridiculous outfits lurking around the Floaroma Meadows, home of the town's honey trees and honey expert. Barry was fairly certain said two strange-looking men in ridiculous outfits must be the two Team Galactic hooligans that Officer Looker was after, considering how they looked like back in Jubilife. In addition, considering how asininely easy it was to obtain the info, Barry was certain that the other three would learn the same info and head to this location soon. All Barry had to do was either wait for them to get here (assuming they find out), or just go in and track them down.

But since waiting was boring, Barry made the only logical choice and quietly entered the Floaroma Meadows.

The boy saw a vast, lush garden of beautiful flowers of different colors and several yellow trees dotted around the garden. As he walked around into the garden, he overheard a commotion going on. To his luck, he spotted the two ridiculous-looking weirdos arguing with an old man.

Success! Barry had found the two weirdos who were apparently criminals! Well they are criminals since they tried to mug Professor Rowan and steal his stuff, but in Barry's opinion, they looked too silly.

But that's beside the point. The two weirdos were harassing another old man! Not on Barry's watch!

"Hey!" Barry yelled, getting their attention.

"Ah crap, it's that blonde brat from Jubilife," one of the grunts grumbled. "Where the hell's the other two brats?"

"That's beside the point," Barry said. "I won't let you harass another old man on my watch you weirdos!"

"Oh yeah?!" the other grunt growled as they released their glameow and stunky. "There's only one of you this time. You think you can take both of us on?"

"No, because that would be stupid."

' _Right on cue,'_ Barry thought as a zubat swooped down and slammed his wing into the stunky. He glanced back to see Lucas and Looker, having just arrived.

"Ah crap!" one of the grunts exclaimed. "It's the goddamn cop!"

"So you were planning to just rush in and take them on alone?" Lucas asked Barry sternly.

"No, I knew you would come in time," Barry replied.

"Oh? And what if we didn't?" Lucas asked.

"Nah, I'm sure you would be able to figure it out if I could figure it out first," Barry snickered.

"I can't tell whether you're mocking me or complimenting me," Lucas sighed. "Whatever. Let's just deal with them already."

Barry smirked as he released his starly, Hawkeye, to fight the two harassers with Lucas' Zubat.

"Screw the honey!" one of them yelled. "Let's get our revenge on these brats!"

As the two boys ordered their Flying-types to perform a Wing Attack on the opposing sides, Looker crept over to attend to the old man that the Team Galactic members had been harassing.

"Are you alright, sir?" Looker asked.

"Ah...yes, thank you..." the old man said tiredly. "Those goons...they wanted the honey that I harvest from the honey trees."

"Honey?" Looker questioned bewildered. "For what reason?"

"I'm not sure myself..." the old man shook his head. "Something about appeasing their superior by bringing her the honey or something of the sorts..."

"Their superior?" Looker pondered. "Perhaps there's more of them nearby...?"

"Quick Attack!"

"Wing Attack!"

Hawkeye sped down like a bullet and slammed into the stunky, while Zubat slammed his wing into Glameow's head once more. Looker glanced back to the battle that was raging on, with Barry and Lucas pushing the two grunts back as expected.

"...It could be likely..." Looker theorized. "If they headed here purposely, then there is a chance there are more of them nearby...and those two escaped here to regroup. In fact, it would make sense for them to escape the way they did...

"But the question now...is where would they be?"

Barry glanced at Looker questioningly for a split second, before focusing back onto the battle. The boy smirked. It was all but clear that the battle would turn out just like how it did earlier back in Jubilife so he had no need to worry. It was getting quite dark too, so the duo out to finish these two off before it gets a bit too late at night. Although secretly he wished that he could have dealt with them with Dawn this time instead of–.

"Eh?"

Barry stopped for a moment in realization, before suddenly jumping back to narrowly avoid a Sludge Bomb that was shot from the stunky.

"Hey, don't space out now!" Lucas reprimanded Barry as Hawkeye swooped down to smack the skunk.

"S-Sorry!" Barry stuttered as he paid attention back to the battle while realizing something important.

' _...Shouldn't Dawn be here by now...?'_

* * *

The lighting was dim, but surprisingly there were not any other people in it. Arching an eyebrow, Dawn motioned her two Pokémon to follow her as she carefully ventured into the power plant.

"Where is everyone?" Dawn asked as she looked around the dimly lit hallways. "I figured there would be more people around...Goddamn it it's almost night. Shouldn't this place have better lighting...it's a power plant for fuck's sake..."

"-You want me to light up the place?-" Shinx offered.

"While that's kind of you, no," Dawn replied quietly. "I'd rather not give away our current position while in enemy territory."

" _You do know you have essentially night vision, yes?"_ Giratina informed Dawn in her mind. _"Your powers gives you a few more perks than simply spawning tendrils."_

"I need my powers active for that, don't I?" Dawn asked.

" _Well...yes unfortunately,"_ Giratina replied sheepishly. _"With only two shards, you don't get that many powers."_

"Well whoop de flipping doo," Dawn drawled as she turned around the corner and carefully opened the next door.

"I'M BOOOORED!"

' _The hell?'_ Dawn internally thought as she peeked inside the room.

It was brighter than the entirety of the power plant, at the very least. The room was a laboratory of sorts, with papers cluttered all over the floor. Working away in front of a computer was a man in a lab coat with bushy white hair, and another shorter man with strangely shaped, mauve-colored hair on the computer next to the first man. Lazing on the table in the room was a woman with short red hair and red eyes wearing a uniform that looked similar to the uniform the Team Galactic grunts wore, but with some differences, the biggest one being the skirt that accompanied it. A rotund, gray and white feline Pokémon with a crescent-shaped head rested next to the table that the woman was laying on as she swung her legs childishly.

"Well what did you expect Mars?" the short man chastised. "We're doing the actual work here. You're just there waiting."

"Well work faster!" the woman, Mars, yelled back, before glaring at the other man murderously. "And you! You better transfer all the energy you have over to the main windmill or else!"

The feline Pokémon in response leered at the man, leaving him cowering as he typed away on his computer.

"I do apologize for her attitude," the shorter man apologized somewhat sheepishly. "She can be impatient. Just do as she says, and no harm will come to you. And we'll be on our way. Simple as that."

"Shut your trap you old man!" Mars growled as she got up from the table. "The boss is the only person in the world who's allowed to criticize me in any way! You should feel honored that he even let you on this mission with me, even though you're just a newbie!"

"Oh, because you can totally do my work and I was assigned to merely watch and learn, yes?" the man snidely replied.

"I–J-Just hurry up, you old fart!" Mars growled back.

"What the hell...?" Dawn murmured as she witnessed the banter between the woman and the short man.

She recognized the stylized G on the back of the woman's outfit, so that instantly confirmed that they were part of Team Galactic. Were they commanding officers then? It would be likely, considering the woman at least had a more distinct and imposing outfit than compared to the grunts. The feline that was next to the woman looked much stronger than the glameow and stunky she had seen previously. Before Dawn could formulate some kind of plan, she could hear a faint buzzing from somewhere.

"What's that...?" Dawn whispered as she looked around.

"-!? Above you!-" Turtwig suddenly yelled.

Dawn looked alarmed as she shot her head up, only to find a large red dragonfly Pokémon hovering above her, before slamming into her.

"KYA!?" Dawn yelped as the dragonfly knocked her out of her hiding spot and into the room, garnering the attention of everyone in it.

"What the...?" Mars muttered.

"Oh? It looks like we have an intruder with us," the short man said in an amused tone.

Dawn grumbled as she got back up, while the dragonfly hovered back to Mars.

"Nice job, Yanma," Mars said offhandedly, her eyes not leaving the newcomer at all. "So you managed to sneak in somehow. Useless pawns..."

Turtwig and Shinx got in front of Dawn in a defensive stance, glaring and growling at Mars, whom scoffed at the reaction.

"Isn't it past your bedtime brat?" Mars asked, placing her hands on her waist. "It's quite rude to sneak into other people's property."

"I could say the same thing to you," Dawn shot back, earning her a narrowed glare from Mars.

"She got you there," the short man chuckled.

"Whatever," Mars scoffed, ignoring her cohort. "Since you had the guts to infiltrate this place, I'll at least commend you for your guts and give you a rundown of who we are. You've heard of Team Galactic, I suppose?"

"More or less," Dawn said as she crossed her arms.

"I'm one of Team Galactic's three–."

"Four," the short man interjected.

"...Four Commanders," Mars grumbled. "You may call me Mars, you brat."

"The name's Charon by the way," the short man added from the sidelines, ignoring Mars' constant death glares.

"Anyways," Mars went on. "We've been trying to create a new world that's better than this one...one that our glorious leader envisioned to be the perfect utopia for mankind and Pokémon alike! Unfortunately, people have shown little understanding about our noble actions."

"Well I can't blame them, considering what you're doing right now is anything less than 'noble'," Dawn responded snidely.

"Ooh I like her," Charon snickered as he watched Mars' temper go up.

"...Anyways..." Mars growled. "I do have to ask, girly. Do you like the world right now?"

"...Do I like the world right now?" Dawn asked.

"Yes, haven't you had any moments where this world and everyone on it was just full of shit?" Mars asked. "A moment where you just lost hope in everyone, and just hated the world?"

Dawn arched an eyebrow at the redheaded woman. She did have a point...

"...Yes," Dawn merely replied curtly.

"Oh, well then perhaps you can understand," Mars said, her tone softening slightly.

"Well I can't say you're wrong," Dawn said. "But then again I can't change the world. And neither can you brand of lunatics."

"Oh...so you don't agree with us?" Mars asked.

"The fact that your 'noble' actions involve hijacking a power plant, forcing that man over there to work against his will and kick out presumably his daughter and leaving her in tears isn't convincing anyone, ma'am," Dawn said. "If anything, it convinced me that you're just a pack of demeaning arrogant worms who think they can justify their actions for a 'greater good' and proceed to do as they please regardless of how others think."

"Even if it's for a better world?" Mars inquired.

"Your definition of a better world and my definition of a better world may differ," Dawn shook her head. "And the fact that you probably assume your 'better world' is what everyone wants...that's why I called you lot 'arrogant'."

"...You don't understand either," Mars sighed. "It's a little saddening, really. For a moment, I thought you would understand and sympathize with our cause."

"Sorry to disappoint," Dawn replied in a non-apologetic tone.

"Alright then girly," Mars decided. "Even though you don't understand and generally piss me off, it's rare to find someone so young that speaks with such philosophy. It reminds me of our leader for some reason. So let's have a battle to decide what we do next. If you win, then we'll leave."

"...Alright," Dawn nodded. "And what happens if you win then?"

"Oh that's simple," Mars smiled as she snapped her fingers, signaling the feline and the yanma to get in front of her and prepare for battle. "I get to kill you. We can't have witnesses, now can we?"

Dawn looked startled from the sudden declaration of murder as Mars' Pokémon lunged for Turtwig and Shinx.

* * *

 **To be continued**

* * *

 **AN:** And let's end it off here. Dawn and Barry get their first gym badge, Dawn gets the second shard and gets her powers enhanced, and Team Galactic make their move. Sorry if the battles felt a bit rushed, but I do hope the overall volume makes up for it. Again, I apologize for the extreme tardiness of the chapter. I will do my best to make sure it doesn't take me a year to make a new chapter.

And now for the team rosters:

Dawn: Turtwig / Shinx

Barry: Wukong (Chimchar) / Hawkeye (Starly) / Chloris (Budew)

Lucas: Piplup / Zubat

Nothing changed, since they didn't catch anything new or evolve anyone, just here for a refresher. Hopefully I don't take a year for the next one. Anyways, thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I'll see ya next time.


End file.
